Wisconsin’s high school students are smoking less than they did eight years ago. They’re wearing car seat belts and bike helmets more. And of those who have sex, almost eight in 10 use birth control.
That’s according to the Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a biennial report whose 2005 results were released last week by the state’s Department of Public Instruction.
Experts say the findings show teens have absorbed basic lessons from health class and public service announcements – wear seat belts, don’t smoke – but they also point to underlying data showing students still experiment, often dangerously.