Ignoring teens’ trauma won’t make it go away, Florida

In spring 2021, nearly 11% of Florida high school students said they had missed at least one day of school in the past month because they didn’t feel safe; 12.8% said they’d been bullied; and 6.2% said they’d been injured or threatened with a weapon on campus.

For middle-aged Floridians whose high school memories have mellowed into a grainy highlight reel, these numbers seem startling. But they are part of Florida’s response to a national Youth Risk Behavior Survey headed by the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The results have changed the way schools and communities care for adolescents and how state and federal governments allocate funds. The news is never good.

In the survey, students — whose responses are anonymous — talk about drug, tobacco and alcohol use, lack of access to healthy food and physical and sexual violence.

But what’s better, knowing or deliberately remaining ignorant?

State officials chose the wrong option: The next time the survey is administered in 2023, Florida won’t participate.

We can’t say this is the most shortsighted decision Florida policymakers have made in recent months — but only because there’s so much competition.

More than 11% of Florida students said they had been victims of sexual violence, ranging from kisses to more intimate assault. Eight percent of students said they had been physically forced to have sexual intercourse against their will.

No good reason

Gov. Ron DeSantis and GOP lawmakers haven’t provided a good reason why Florida is quitting the survey.

But the legislative session provides some context. Lawmakers pushed through bills aimed at turning schools into culture-war battlefields, with minority and LGBTQ+ students coming under particular attack.

One bill, HB 1467, made it easier for parents and others to challenge books — knowing that books featuring sexual and racial minorities were among the most likely to be targeted. Another (HB 7) tightened restrictions on discussions of racism in public schools. The most controversial, HB 1577, banned classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity that wasn’t “age appropriate” — a vague term intended to make teachers afraid to allow any talk at all.

What message does that send to the more than 16% of Florida high school students who do not identify as heterosexual?

Some theorize that Florida’s newly puritanical leadership doesn’t want schools asking students — even anonymously — about how many times they have had sex or used drugs.

Look at the timing

But consider the timing. Is there a more insidious motive?

Mental health experts warn that 2022’s “hate slate” of bills, particularly the legislation dubbed “don’t say gay” by opponents, could increase stigma, anger and shame for students who feel increasingly marginalized. It could also put some teachers in the position of outing their students, leading to self-destructive behaviors like substance abuse and suicide.

If mental health experts are right, the 2023 survey results could put a serious damper on GOP officials who want to brag about the legislation they have passed. That’s just a theory, of course. And you don’t have to buy into any conspiracies to understand this: Ignoring real threats to the mental, emotional and physical health of Florida teens is a terrible idea.

Nearly 40% of students said they had felt sad or hopeless nearly every day in the two weeks before they answered the questionnaire. More than 17% said they’d seriously considered killing themselves over the past year, and 13.8% said they’d made plans to end their lives. Nine percent actually attempted suicide.

There’s plenty of time for Florida lawmakers and education leaders to reverse course. They should. This is crucial data that often illuminates dangerous trends in teen behavior. The risk behavior survey provided the first evidence that e-cigarettes and vaping were rapidly gaining popularity among teenagers, for example.

At the urging of Broward County Commissioner Nan Rich, commissioners Tuesday planned to consider a resolution calling on the state to reverse course and keep offering the youth survey.

If state leaders won’t budge, there’s another option. Six counties — Orange, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, MiamiDade and Palm Beach — get CDC funding to produce county-level data on behavior in middle schools. Those counties should talk to the CDC about continuing the high school surveys, and other counties should consider doing the same. It won’t be as comprehensive as data from all 67 counties, but it will be significant: The combined population of those six counties is around 8 million, significantly more than most states.

In Florida’s current atmosphere of hyper-partisan politics and brute force retaliation, defying Tallahassee could bring grief to those counties. But measure that against the importance of paying attention to high school students coping with burdens almost too heavy for their young shoulders to bear.

These kids should count, and that means they should be counted.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.