COMPARISON OF HEALTH RISK BEHAVIORS BETWEEN STUDENTS IN A REGULAR HIGH-SCHOOL AND STUDENTS IN AN ALTERNATIVE HIGH-SCHOOL

Prevalence of selected health risk behaviors of students attending an alternative high school (AHS) designed as a dropout prevention/dropout recovery high school was determined using the Youth Risk Behavior Sur vey. The survey also was administered to a sample of students attendin g a regular high school (RHS) in the same school district. A larger pe rcentage of AHS students reported being involved in a physical fight t he past year, having smoked at least one cigarette the past month, hav ing drunk at least one drink on five or more occasions the past month, having drunk five or more drinks at least once the past month, having smoked marijuana at least once the past month, having used cocaine at least once the past month, and having ever had sexual intercourse. Re sults indicate a need for comprehensive health education/intervention programs to address the needs of youth in alternative school settings.