Page 104 - 2015 Compass Now

Bullied on school 29.5% 28.8% 32.1% 24.0% 22.7% 10.0%
property in past
12 months

Electronically N/A 21.5% 20.8% 16.8% 17.6% 13%
bullied in past 12
months

Sexual Activity

Ever had sex 38.2% 45.0% 36.3% 32.4% 35.3% 39.2%

Mental Health

Seriously 16.8% 12.8% 12.2% 6.8% 13.2% 9.5%
considered
suicide in past 12
months

Feeling sad or 28.9% 23.9% 22.1% 15.2% 24.6% 30.5%
hopeless almost (over last 12
every day for 2
weeks months)

Hurt or injured 18.1% 15.7% 14.4% 10.0% N/A 8.0%
yourself over the
past 12 months
without wanting
to die

Have attempted 6.6% 6.8% 6.3% 3.6% 2.5% 5.0%
suicide (within last
12 months)

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1991-2013 High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data.
Available at http://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/. Accessed on December 1, 2014; Minnesota Student Survey, 2013.

The CDC website represents this data at a state and national level. However, not all school districts within each
county were required to participate in this survey. As part of a CDC grant, the YRBS was collected for La Crosse County
in 2013. The YRBS is not generally available by county unless the county or school district voluntarily completes the
online survey. Current cigarette use is defined as those who smoked at least one cigarette every day for 30 days. All
high schools from La Crosse and Monroe counties participated in the online YRBS survey. The State of Wisconsin did

not include a question regarding self-harm on the 2013 questionnaire.

HEALTH It is important to note that Wisconsin and Minnesota administer different surveys to their high school
students. Students in grades 6, 9, and 12 from Houston County complete the Minnesota Student Survey every
three years. Not all indicators were comparable to the YRBS. Not all questions are asked at every school or
reported in the county summaries.

How concerned are we about these health risks?

In the COMPASS NOW 2015 Random Household Survey, residents were asked to rate a series of eighteen
concerns in the community. These results are shown in Figure 5. Health issues such as illegal drug use,
bullying, alcohol use, obesity, prescription drug misuse, and over-the-counter drug misuse all ranked in the
top half of community concerns. A comparison of issues by county is also shown in Table 10. Illegal drug
use was the top rated concern for all counties. Suicide was one of the lowest rated concerns for all counties
except Houston County, which ranked suicide as their eighth highest community concern.

96 COMPASS NOW 2015