Jump to full article: Andalusia (AL) Star-News, 2008-08-09
Author: Jeremy Henderson
Intro: A recent survey conducted by the Alabama Department of Public Health boasted a 17.5 percent decrease in smoking among Alabama high school youths, but Pride Surveys conducted among local sixth graders paint a different picture in Covington County.
The ADPH announced through a press release Wednesday that recent surveys revealed a 17.5 percent decrease in smoking among high school youths from 2006 to 2008. According to the ADPH, about 22.1 percent of high school students said they smoked in the 2008 survey compared to nearly 27 percent who reported they smoked in 2006. . . .
Susan Short, executive director of the Children's Policy Council, said the decrease revealed by the ADPH's survey was promising, but she is more concerned with numbers revealed by Covington County's Pride surveys.
According to Short, 8.3 percent of 121 sixth graders surveyed in Andalusia's city schools said they smoked, which she said is the exact same percentage as last year. Short said 17 of the surveys were thrown out due to discrepancies found in the answers. . . .
"The surveys are designed to ensure each student pays attention to the questions asked," she added. "One question may ask how many times per day a student smokes and then another question further into the survey asks if the student smokes. If the two answers do not match, then the survey is discarded."
Researchers pay particular attention to the numbers of adolescents who use tobacco because it is considered a gateway drug to the use of alcohol and drugs.
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