Weapon carrying on school property during 1997 remained unchanged. Eleven percent of students surveyed said they carried a weapon other than a gun on school property. Two percent of students reported carrying a gun on school property. Thirteen percent of the students said they had been in a fight on school property, a decrease from the 18 percent reported in 1993. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is conducted by the Health Division and the Department of Education in conjunction with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Participation is voluntary.
In 1997, one hundred schools representing all geographic areas of the state took part in the survey. For the first time, the report contains representative comments of students who took the survey. Over ten thousand comments were collected and those selected for print are representative of opinions expressed by students.