BHS Students More Likely To Have Texted While Driving Than Peers

BURLINGTON, MA -- Nearly one-in-two Burlington High School students reported texting or using an electronic device, according to the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The results of the 2017 survey of 799 BHS students were presented at the February 13 school committee meeting and showed that while they were generally safer than healthier when compared to a benchmark of results from six other Middlesex League school systems, they lagged in a few key areas.

In Burlington, for example, 16.8% of BHS students said they had ridden in a car with a drunk driver, above the 14% average reported by students in Arlington, Melrose, Stoneham, Wakefield, Winchester, and Woburn. While the 16.8% was down from 18.8% in 2014 and 22.9% in 2012, it shows a step backwards from the most recent survey in 2016, when 13.1% of BHS students said they had ridden in a car with a drunk driver.

The survey also showed that BHS students were more likely to have been bullied and less likely to self report that they had been educated on condom use than their Middlesex League peers. Additionally, while drug and alcohol use in Burlington was generally lower in comparison to the benchmark, the number of BHS students reporting they had ever used heroin (1.5%) or methamphetamine was equal to Middlesex League and state averages.

In a portion of the survey on nutrition, BHS students said they were less likely to eat breakfast and to have eaten vegetables in the previous seven days when compared to the Middlesex League benchmark. Additionally, 13.9% of BHS students said they were not active 60 minutes a day in the week, compared to 10.5% for the Middlesex League schools.

On the positive side, BHS students reported fewer mental health problems than their peers and less sexual activity than the benchmark group. Alcohol use was also slightly lower than the average from the other six Middlesex League schools.

The subcommittee that administered and collected the survey results recommended that the school system implement a mentoring program so students can have a faculty member as a resource. The subcommittee also wants the school committee to set aside more money to staff counseling and outreach programs and to reevaluate offerings in the school vending machines.

The committee took no action on the survey, but members offered praise to the Wellness committee and others involved in collecting and analyzing the data. They noted that the results had improved since 2012, when the district first administered the survey with a state grant.

Subscribe to Burlington Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).