Kathleen Ethier

While we're seeing positive changes in most of the sexual behaviors, youth are also less likely to use a condom, and so that remains a concern, particularly around HIV and STD risk.

Kathleen Ethier

It's the things they are experiencing, whether it's violence, victimization or mental health and suicide risk, where we still have great concern.

Kathleen Ethier

When we put this data out every two years, it really provides a great dashboard for the health of the nation's youth, and so we continue to really trust that the trends that we're seeing really are what's happening in high schools around the country.

Kathleen Ethier

We hope that the work that we do in schools around helping school districts put quality health education in place so kids have knowledge and skills, connect youth to needed services in their communities and create environments that support them and help them safe -- we hope that that work and those messages are getting out there, and that's what's driving the positive behavior changes.

Kathleen Ethier

At the same time, the rate of violence and victimization they're experiencing hasn't gone down. Bullying hasn't decreased. The proportion of youth who have ever been physically forced to have sex has not decreased, we're seeing increases in experiences of persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness and suicide ideation and behaviors, and so that remains a great concern.

Kathleen Ethier

They're using less illicit drugs, and they are less likely to inject drugs, all those are really positive directions.

Kathleen Ethier

We will continue to try to understand that data better and understand what's kind of underlying it, we hope that the work that we do in schools around helping school districts put quality health education in place so kids have knowledge and skills, connect youth to needed services in their communities and create environments that support them and help them safe -- we hope that that work and those messages are getting out there, and that's what's driving the positive behavior changes.

Kathleen Ethier

Overall, I think youth are making better decisions, particularly about their sexual behavior and their drug use.

Kathleen Ethier

We are seeing that fewer youth are initiating sex ; they're having fewer partners ; they're more likely to use effective methods of hormonal birth control.

Kathleen Ethier