The Orlando Sentinel reports the Florida Department of Education has quietly dropped out of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the confidential questionnaire from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that has been conducted statewide in public high schools every other year for the past 31 years.
The survey covers diet, exercise, smoking, self-image, bullying, drug use, access to guns, use of birth control, sexual and physical abuse and eating disorders, as well as mental well-being, suicidal thoughts, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Florida KIDS COUNT director NorÃn Dollard told the Orlando Sentinel the survey has been “a longstanding, trusted source of data that lawmakers, advocates, state agencies and nonprofits have relied on over the years to identify trends in potentially harmful behavior among Florida’s youth.”
FDOH would not comment on why the state won’t allow Florida students to take the survey. The answers might conflict with Gov. DeSantis and State Surgeon General Ladapo’s policies.