Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: All isn't well among top high-schoolers Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 15:23:03 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \HD All isn't well among top high-schoolers \BY Carol Innerst \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES The nation's top high school students are contemplating suicide, worry about their future, fear for their safety, ride with drunken drivers and don't practice safe sex, a survey released yesterday shows. "Drunk driving is still not considered high-risk behavior among these students," said Paul Krouse, publisher of Who's Who Among American High School Students, which conducted the 23rd annual Survey of High Achievers. Nearly one in three students (31 percent) has considered suicide, and 5 percent have tried it. Although 78 percent said they were more concerned now about getting AIDS than they were a year ago, 41 percent of sexually active teens said they would engage in sexual intercourse without a condom. Students agreed that distributing condoms at school would make it likelier for sexually active males to use them and wouldn't increase the probability of students having sex. Black students are under more peer pressure to have sex than are white students (61 percent vs. 44 percent), the survey notes. A considerable number of students - both male and female - believe that if a woman says no to sex, she doesn't mean it. Some 42 percent of men and 39 percent of women believe a women who says no is willing to continue sexual activities if she is "affectionate and passionate" and 9 percent of men and 14 percent of women believe she is willing to continue if "she doesn't put up a fight." "The disturbing number of high-achieving students who do not believe a woman when she says no suggest that young people need much more education on how to communicate with each other," Mr. Krouse said. The survey revealed that sexual assault is more common than believed. Almost a third of students say they know a victim of date rape. One in seven women (14 percent) said they were raped or sexually assaulted, and 5 percent of women said they had been a victim of date rape. Of the 2,092 A and B students polled, 73 percent were female, 74 percent were 17 years old, 81 percent were white, 74 percent attended public school and 97 percent were going on to college. Other survey highlights: * Almost half the students know someone who has brought a gun or knife to school. * More than half fear for their future ability to buy a house and afford an education. * Nearly half say there is peer pressure to study less, and 51 percent study only an hour a day or less. ****BOX SNAPSHOT OF YOUTH A survey of the brightest American high school students shows some of their hopes, fears and practices. * 78 percent of the students said at least half the people they know are prejudiced against homosexuals. * 26 percent watch more than an hour of TV a night. * 58 percent felt "a lot" to "some" pressure to cheat in school. * 48 percent distrust the president; 56 percent distrust Congress; 67 percent distrust the media; 22 percent distrust the police. * Only 23 percent said it was very important to participate in the political system. * Politically, 36 percent call themselves independents; 34 percent are Republicans and 24 percent are Democrats. * 70 percent said their teachers do not make class interesting and 60 percent said their teachers failed to challenge them to work hard. * If they became pregnant, 40 percent of the females said they would rear the child; 19 percent would put the child up for adoption; 13 percent would have an abortion and 26 percent said they didn't know what they would do. * 64 percent of African-American females and 37 percent of all females have a friend who has had an abortion. Source: "Who's Who Among American High School Students" survey. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM