Wilmington Superintendent of Schools Mary DeLai released key highlights of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results taken by Wilmington students (Grades 7-11) last school year. (A more thorough presentation, including how Wilmington compares to the national averages, will take place at the Wilmington School Committee Meeting on Wednesday, October 21 at 7pm at WHS and live on WCTV-G.)
Some of the survey’s highlights include:
- 12.5% of WHS students report having seriously considered attempting suicide; 21.2% of WMS students report having seriously considered attempting suicide
- 7.1% of WHS students report having attempted suicide in the past 12 months; 6.6% of WMS students report having attempted suicide
- 28% of WHS students and 12.2% of WMS students report that they have had sexual intercourse in their lifetime
- 31% of WHS students did not use a condom during sexual intercourse; Only 49.1% of WMS students who are sexually active used a condom during their last episode of sexual intercourse
- 53.5% of WHS students & 24.2% of WMS students have used alcohol at least once in their lifetime
- 30.3% of WHS students & 10.4% of WMS students have used marijuana at least once
- 11% of WHS students have used cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine or ecstasy at least once
- 32.2% of WHS students report having used alcohol in the past 30 days
- 18.2% of WHS students have used marijuana over the past 30 days
Here’s Wilmington Apple’s Question of the Day for October 18: What’s your initial reaction to these findings? Do any of these surprise you? If so, which ones and why?
Let Wilmington know your thoughts via the Wilmington Apple Facebook page, via the Wilmington Apple Twitter page, in the comments section below, or via email at wilmingtonapple@gmail.com. Responses may be included in a future article.
Wilmington Apple 