Bubbaworld

As the old story goes, we have some good news and we have some bad news.

And the news comes from the same source, the Oklahoma State Department of Health which just released the results of the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

A survey developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and conducted statewide in 2007 by the Oklahoma State Department of Health in collaboration with the State Department of Education and local school districts.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was administered to high-school age adolescents in 2003, 2005, and in the spring of 2007, when 2,612 students in 51 public high schools participated.

Comparing the results of the 2007 survey to the 2005 survey reveals both good and bad news.

The percentage of high school age Oklahomans surveyed who ever tried smoking as well as those that smoke on a daily basis are both down as are the percentages of those that use methamphetamine and/or marijuana. The percentage of teens surveyed who exercise regularly and who watch television less frequently are both up.

So much for the good news.

The bad news is that the percentage of high school age Oklahomans surveyed who are using smokeless tobacco, who are driving after consuming alcohol and who are having sex are up.

Evidently some kids are reducing their television viewing time and exercising more while chewing tobacco, having sex and driving drunk, which of course are all risky behaviors.

So while the news is good in some respects, as usual it is not so good in other areas.

According to various experts quoted in a Tulsa World report, most of the bad news has to do with “social norms”.

Maybe so, maybe not.
In any case, “We got some good news and we got some bad news”.

Now let’s see what if anything we do about it…