Assessed the relative influence of peer norms and parental involvement on adolescent cigarette and alcohol use. Surveys of secondary school students indicated that the relative balance of peer-parent influences did not differ across grades. In all grades, perceived peer norms had substantially greater correlations with cigarette and alcohol use…

Surveyed Florida middle and high school principals to determine their anti-tobacco policies and enforcement strategies. All schools had formal policies, but middle schools implemented them more rigorously. Various enforcement strategies were employed formally and informally. Punitive strategies were more common than nonpunitive strategies.…

Surveyed Ohio safe and drug-free school coordinators regarding their perceptions of how to improve safe and drug-free school programs. Training topics considered most beneficial included effective techniques for enhancing youth success, building parent-school-community partnerships, and providing conflict resolution skills. Lack of time and school…

Discusses the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention components of suicide prevention education, offering practical steps for incorporating each component within a school system and exploring: what school professionals can do to help prevent adolescent suicide; what school professionals should do when a student threatens suicide; and what…

Reviews a traditional model for school health teacher preparation, presenting an alternative model for enhancing health literacy in teacher education which offers an innovative instructional paradigm, the Child and Adolescent Health (CAH) Logic Framework. This model emphasizes links between child and adolescent health research and theory, CAH…

Analyzed data on physical education (PE) enrollment, daily PE attendance, and being physically active in PE among high school students, using 1991-97 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data. Although PE enrollment did not change over time, the prevalence of students who attended PE daily and who were physically active more than 20 minutes per class…

Investigated individual characteristics and peer influences related to adolescents' sexual behavior, considering gender and sexual experience. Students reported on intentions to engage in sexual activity and use condoms in the next year, amount of pressure to engage in sexual activity, and perceptions about the number of their peers engaging in…

Only limited data exist describing potential exposures to chemical and biological agents when using portable classrooms or outlining how to assess and reduce associated health risks. Evaluating indoor air quality involves examining ventilating rates, volatile organic compounds, and microbiologicals. Open communication among key stakeholders is…

Development of classroom rules is essential for establishing safe and open health classrooms where students can express their feelings and concerns about sometimes controversial subjects. This article explains how teachers can involve students in planning clear classroom rules, thus developing a sense of community. Should classroom behavior become…

Describes phase two of an ongoing initiative to help public schools meet the health and education needs of students with chronic health conditions. The Health and Education Leadership Project encourages participation and support of school administrators, who assemble health teams; respects the multiple demands placed on educators; and helps…

Examined the attitudes of key participants in a telehealth project, conducted by the Kansas University Medical Center and one school district, which brought health care into the schools via interactive video technology. Archival data and participant interviews indicated that initial challenges and negative attitudes were overcome to effectively…

Describes Safety Makes Sense, a multidimensional, school-based injury prevention initiative that integrates unintentional injury prevention into comprehensive school health education and is implemented by interdisciplinary teams within a coordinated school health program. The initiative integrates safety and music education and includes…

Examined relationships between participation in school-based hepatitis B immunization programs and teacher attitudes toward school-based health care and student socioeconomic status (SES). Data on teacher attitudes, student standardized test scores, and student SES indicated that SES was the most important predictor of student participation. The…

Examined the effectiveness of computerized infant simulator that provided realistic infant care experience to prevent teen pregnancy. Surveys examined changes in intervention and control group students' attitudes and sexual behaviors. Overall, the program did not significantly affect intervention students. Many students reported that it taught…

Evaluated the impact of two elementary level school based health centers (SBHCs), located in schools within high-poverty, inner city neighborhoods, on emergency department visits by children enrolled in the SBHC. Overall, SBHCs resulted in significant decreases in non-urgent emergency department visits, but not in urgent visits. Medicaid-insured…