Posted on 02/24/2003 10:51:15 AM PST by hsmomx3
A survey of some Pennsylvania students this fall may raise more eyebrows for its questions than for its answers.
The anonymous Pennsylvania Youth Survey will ask personal questions not only about the students themselves, but about their families: whether their brothers or sisters take drugs, how close they feel to their parents, whether yelling and insults are common at home.
The questionnaire is designed to find out how many young people are at risk for drug abuse, violence and other problems, said Alison Delsite, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Crime and Delinquency Commission. The information is used to target state and local money and prevention efforts.
Two versions of the federally funded survey will be available. The longer one delves into family relationships. School districts can choose which version they want to give to students, Delsite said.
If they choose the longer one, results about family relationships will stay in the district; other results will be compiled statewide. No names go on the survey and parents are notified of the survey in advance.
Still, some people think the anonymous surveys, particularly the longer one, go too far.
"This raises significant privacy concerns and asks about a lot of private information on forms that will be handed out at school, that students will feel pressured to respond to, and that's problematic," said Larry Frankel of the American Civil Liberties Union.
State Rep. Samuel Rohrer, R-Berks, said he plans to look deeper into the commission's survey and its purpose. He also cited privacy concerns.
"If there's a teacher in the classroom who is allowed to interact with students, I think they have the ability to determine the needs without potentially invasive surveys," Rohrer said.
The survey was developed by Channing Bete Co., a Massachusetts firm that markets Communities that Care, a youth violence prevention effort. The company employs former first lady Michele Ridge -- the wife of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge -- as its national spokeswoman.
The firm will be paid $132,000 from federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools funds to administer the survey. It will be given to as many as 70,000 sixth-, seventh-, ninth- and 12th-graders, Delsite said.
A teen survey, which Channing Bete is administering in Fairfax County, Va., touches on sex, suicide, and drug and alcohol concerns. It has drawn fire from critics there.
Neither sex nor suicide will be broached in the Pennsylvania survey, Delsite said.
Michael G. Bete, president and chief executive officer of Channing Bete, said communities opting for the shorter survey will be handicapped a little because families play a role in shaping children's behaviors.
"While this can certainly be a sensitive area for communities to think about and deal with, it is a reality that faces our kids," he said. JAN MURPHY: 787-3061 or jmurphy@patriot-news.com
I don't think kids have changed much and when my generation got "confidential" surveys we really had fun with them.
One survey administered in my high school was so skewed thta the guidence conselours were too embarassed to admit they had administered the survey.
If I remember correctly those students who actually compiled the data in the Vice Principals office reported on the QT that 11th graders suggested that over half of their parents regularly practiced insest in their households.
Did know a couple that were killed in car accidents, though. Perhaps we should lower the speed limit to 15mph.
There was also a close friend who died of leukemia. If we could outlaw cancer, there's no doubt that we could save thousands.
/sarcasm off. I'm in a bad mood today. >:-)
No, silly! The bar-coded numbers go on the survey and the names are kept on seperate list.
In my experience, these surveys always want to key results against demographic factors, so they maintain a linkage to the individual, so they can figure out how many 17-year-olds with certain income and other factors within such-and-such a zip code responded which way, etc. There are always fulsome pledges that the information will be kept anonymous, but the more strongly the data is linked to the individual, the more useful it is.
That is the second-best answer, right after "I'm sorry but I can't hear you because of this giant snarling Doberman, and my leash hand is getting tired!"
The survey can be seen at www.pccd.state.pa.us Click on "statistics and Evaluations" then scroll down to "survey sheet (complete).
Can't see much info on this "model" that they haven't already gotten from the CDC surveys they have been doing for years. Guess the BIg Brother files need updating.
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