Undergrad Debt

Student loan company Nellie Mae reports, from a August 2004 survey of 1,413 undergraduate students, that 76% of undergrads who began school had a credit card (83% in 2001). The average outstanding balance was $2,169 in 2004 compared to $2,327 in 2001.

                http://www.nelliemae.com/library/research_12.html  and

                http://www.nelliemae.com/library/ccstudy_2005.pdf  (15 page pdf file)

College Spirituality

The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA released a report, 2004 College Students’ Beliefs and Values Survey, which examined the spiritual lives of 112,232 freshmen at 236 nationwide colleges and universities. Overall, 28% identified their religious preference as Catholic, 17% Protestant, 17% none, 11% other Christian, 4% Mormon, 4% 7^th Day Adventist, 4% Unitarian, 3% Church of Christ, 3% other religion, 2% Jewish, and 1% each for Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, and Eastern Orthodox. Significant differences of opinion were seen between students classified with high and low levels of spirituality on issues of casual sex (22% and 65% agreed, respectively), abortion (33% and 72%), homosexual “marriage” (39% and 71%), marijuana legalization (26% and 45%), and abolishing the death penalty (42% and 26%).

                http://spirituality.ucla.edu/reports/index.html

                http://www.spirituality.ucla.edu/spirituality/reports/FINAL%20REPORT.pdf  (full 28 page report)

                See also: Religious beliefs and practices survey

                http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=186

See also: “Faith and Frat Boys” article

                http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1056294,00.html

College Campus Violence

The American College Health Association released a “Campus Violence White Paper” which details methods, compiles data and addresses issues related to college campus violence.  

                http://www.acha.org/info_resources/Campus_Violence.pdf  (17 page pdf file) and

                http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/vvcs02.htm

See also: Media violence and childhood fear/aggression

                http://my.webmd.com/content/article/101/105960.htm

See also: “School bullies take teasing online”

                http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=472315&page=1

                See also: CPYU article on bullying

                /pageview.asp?pageid=14718

College Depression

According to the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment, a survey of 47,202 students at 74 nationwide campuses, as reported by PRNewswire on Nov 22, 14.9% of students reported being diagnosed with depression in 2004; up from 10.3% of students in 2000.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-22-2004/0002496077&EDATE=

                See also: College debt

                http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1129/p13s01-wmgn.htm

See also: “Teens cautious, but curious, about credit cards”

                http://www.teenresearch.com/PRview.cfm?edit_id=280

Campus Test Cheating

Several articles below highlight the pressures and ethics surrounding test taking in the technological and pharmacological age.

                http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=264646&page=1

                See also: CPYU archived article on Internet homework “help” sites

                /pageview_p.asp?PageID=8118

                See also: Cell phone cheating

                http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=6986501&section=news

                See also: Brain scans spot truth and lies

                http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=522535  or

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=6945206&section=news

See also: Adderall used to enhance test taking performance

                http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/News/story?id=254123&page=1  or

                http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1130/p11s02-legn.html

School Crime Stats

The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice report a drop in violent crimes at school for middle and high school aged students between 1992 and 2002.  Some of the key findings:

• 7% of 12-18 year old students in 2003 reported being bullied at school
• 6% of 9^th-12^th grade students in 2003 reported carrying a gun/knife/club to school in the past 30 days
• Gangs were reported at 31% of urban, 18% of suburban, and 12% of rural schools
• Teachers were the victims of 144,000 thefts and 90,000 violent crimes annually between 1998 and 2002

                http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/11/11292004.html  or

                http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005002

                http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/iscs04.htm

                See also: The Gallup Tuesday Briefing reports that 30% of households experienced crime in the past year.

                http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/default.aspx?ci=14227  (fee to access)

Student Athlete Ethics

The Josephson Institute of Ethics surveyed 4,200 high school student athletes about the prevalence of cheating, stealing and lying. Some of the key findings:

• 55.8% of guys and 45.2% of girls agreed with the statement, "In the real world, successful people do what they have to do to win even if others consider it cheating".
• 36.9% of guys and 14.8% of girls agreed that it is more important to win than being a good sport.
• 30.7% of guys and 16.8% of girls agreed with the statement, "Degrading hazing or initiation rituals are common at my school.
• 68% of guys and girls reported cheating at least once on a test at school in the past year.
• 26% of guys and 19% of girls reported stealing something from a store in the past year.
• 69% of guys and 50% of girls bullied, teased or taunted someone at least once in the past year.
• 12% of guys and 3% of girls used performance enhancing drugs in the past year.

                http://charactercounts.org/sports/survey2004/

                See also: The September 2004 edition of Harris Interactive's "Trends & Tudes" focuses on youth sports

                http://harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters/k12news/HI_Trends&TudesNews2004_v3_iss09.pdf

SAT® Stats

The College Board reports statistics on the SAT® test, taken by a record number of 1,419,007 students from the class of 2004. Overall, 53% of girls and 47% of guys took the SAT's. The average SAT scores for girls were 504 for verbal and 501 for math, compared to 512 and 537, respectively, for guys.  

                http://www.collegeboard.com/press/article/0,,37478,00.html

School Violence

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, from analysis of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, reports on the prevalence and trends of violence-related behavior among high school students between 1991 and 2003. Some of key findings:

• Weapon carrying on school property dropped to 6.1% in 2003 from 11.8% in 1993
• Physical fighting on school property dropped to 12.8% in 2003 from 16.2% in 1993

                http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5329a1.htm

See also: Adolescent concealed firearm carrying

                http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/158/7/657  (full article access)

See also: U.S. incarceration and parole statistics

                http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/correct.htm

Student Led Sex Ed

British researchers, as reported by HealthDayNews, released findings in the July 24 issue of the Lancet showing that 13-14 year-old girls who were taught sex-ed by their older peers (16-17 year-olds) were less likely to report having sex as compared to sex-ed taught by a teacher (35% and 41%, respectively).

                http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=520261  or

                http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/Healthology/sex_ed_healthday_040726.html

                See also: Parental contraception approval and teen births

                http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5820001§ion=news

                See also: Many teens want to have babies

                http://my.webmd.com/content/article/91/101060.htm

Home-Schooling Surge

The National Center for Education Statistics reports a 29% jump in home-schooled children in the U.S. since 1999 (from 850,000 to 1.1 million).

                http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004115

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/2004115.pdf  (3 page pdf file)

                See also: Single sex public schools jump from 4 to 143 in eight years

                http://www.singlesexschools.org/schools-schools.htm

Top Party Colleges

The Princeton Review, an annual survey of more than 110,000 college students, reveals the top "Party Schools". The top 5 party schools were: SUNY at Albany, Washington and Lee University, University of Wisconsin, West Virginia University and Ohio University.

                http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankingDetails.asp?

                See also: Vaporized alcohol craze

                http://www.health.org/redirect.asp?From=netNews&ID=2974)

See also: The Gallup Tuesday Briefing reports that 63% of U.S. adults (69% men and 58% women) consume alcohol and 37% totally abstain

                http://www.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=12790  (fee to access)

See also: 9.4% of U.S. adults abuse alcohol or drugs

                http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/press/2004/comorbidity.htm  

See also: Dangerous college drinking

                http://www.news-medical.net/?id=3806

Violent School Deaths

The National School Safety and Security Services reports a total of 49 school-related violent deaths for the 2003-2004 school year.

                http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/school_violence.html

See also: Violent marriages may make violent children

                http://my.webmd.com/content/article/90/100541.htm

See also: Sexual abuse at school

                http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/06/06302004.html

                http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/misconductreview/report.pdf  (156 page pdf file report)


School Feelings and Booze Link

The Gallup Tuesday Briefing found a connection between a teen's feelings about school and the prevalence of alcohol consumption from a study of 785 13-17 year old teens conducted between January and March 2004. Teens that drink alcohol were less likely to report feeling "happy" in school, compared to non-drinkers (19% and 36%, respectively). Also, 63% of teens who consume alcohol report feeling "bored" in school, compared to 45% for non-drinkers.

                http://www.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=11893  (fee to access)

                See also: Teen access to online booze

                http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040610/6274401s.htm

                See also: Alcohol abuse and dependence stats

                http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jun2004/niaaa-10.htm

                See also: Date rape drug spiked drinks "Down-Under"

                http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/summaries/reader/0,1854,571298,00.html

Cheating @ School

The Gallup Tuesday Briefing reports that 46% of teens say they have personally cheated on a test or exam from an Internet survey of 1,985 13-17 year old teens conducted between January and March in both 2003 and 2004. Overall, 19% of teens say there is a "great deal" of cheating; 46% say "a fair amount"; and 34% say "not very much." The pervasiveness of cheating at school depends on whether teens profess to have cheated or not. 31% of self reporting cheaters think there is a "great deal" of cheating, compared to 9% of non-cheaters (51% and 42%, respectively, said there is a "fair amount" of cheating).

                http://www.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=11644  (fee to access)

Junk Food @ School

The Center for Science in the Public Interest conducted a nationwide survey of 1,420 vending machines in 251 middle and high schools, and found that 75% of drinks and 85% of snacks were of "poor nutritional value".

                http://cspinet.org/new/200405111.html

See also: The Gallup Tuesday Briefing, from a survey of 785 13-17 teens conducted in early 2004, reports that 23% of teens eat "a great deal" of junk food in a typical week (61% eat some junk food, and 14% eat hardly any). 67% of teens say they have purchased junk food or soda at a school vending machine.

                http://www.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=11641  (fee to access)

Revised SAT's

Time magazine reports on the overhauled Standardized Aptitudes Test.

                http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101031027/story.html

                See also: Standardized test cheating by teachers

                http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHEATING_TEACHERS?

                See also: "Grade inflation takes a toll on students"

                http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20031021/5605105s.htm

U.S. Schools Violence Report

The National Center for Education Statistics released the results of its 2000 School Survey on Crime and Safety conducted on 2,270 public school principals.

• 71% of schools (92% of secondary, 87% of middle, 77% of combined schools, and 61% of elementary) experienced at least one violent incident during the 1999-2000 school year
• 20% of schools experienced one or more serious violent incidents
• 7% of schools accounted for 50% of all violent incidents.                 http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004314  
  See also: British study of the impact of television violence on children                http://www.bsc.org.uk/pdfs/research/how%20child.pdf  (90 page pdf file report)