Healthy Respect Exceeds Targets for 2006-2007 School Year

Report of independent evaluators highlights strengths of Healthy Respect in High Schools in the New York metropolitan area

The results are in and according to the findings of independent researchers from Queens College, Healthy Respect has met or exceeded many of its stated goals for the 2006-2007 school year. “We are very excited to see that we have once again exceeded our projected results in helping students to increase knowledge and sustain attitude change” said John P. Margand, Esq., Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Respect.

Students enrolled in the Healthy Respect Youth Development Program (HRYDP) were given pre and post-course surveys. The survey is designed to measure the changes in knowledge and attitudes of students in reference to such topics as sexually transmitted infections, sexual activity, teen pregnancy, and alcohol, tobacco and drug use. The results of the intervention group survey were then studied alongside those of a group of matched comparison students that did not participate in the Healthy Respect program.

With the intent of demonstrating that the HRYDP educates students on the benefits of abstinence, the Healthy Respect management team delineated a set of goals whose achievement would be apparent from the results of the study. The first of these being that “60% of participants will agree that ‘abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to prevent out of wedlock pregnancy and STDs.’” The study found that 80.41% of the students stated that abstinence always prevents pregnancy and that 75.64% of students stated that abstinence always prevents STDs; an increase of 24.62% and 20.62% from the pre-course survey, respectively.

Along with increasing the students’ knowledge of the benefits of abstinence, the Healthy Respect team aimed to change the students’ personal attitudes about abstinence. The goals of the program state that “each year there will be a 7% increase in the number of participants who have made a commitment to abstain from sexual activity until marriage.” According to the researchers’ findings, on post-course surveys there was a 7.47% increase of students stating that they will definitely remain abstinent.

Survey responses to other attitude-based questions also showed that students acceptance of the benefits of abstinence are increasing. According to the findings, at post-course 15% more students strongly agreed that “A teen who has had sexual intercourse outside of marriage would be better off to stop having sex and wait until marriage to have sexual intercourse again” than did so at the pre-course survey. Also, 10.39% more students strongly disagreed that “it is OK for unmarried teens to have sexual intercourse if they use birth control.”

“We continue to be pleased with the progress of our program and are motivated to continue to bring this vital message of abstinence to the youth that we serve,” said Dr. Nanci Coppola, Director of Curriculum and Programs of Healthy Respect. “Positive results are always encouraging to our instructional team and serve to empower them to continue working with the at risk students in our communities.”

Leading the research team was Dr. Robin Rogers-Dillon, Associate Professor of Sociology at Queens College, who obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and studied Health Care Policy at Yale University. Assisting was Dr. Dana Weinberg, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Queens College, who received her doctorate at Harvard University. Findings of the report on the confidential survey indicate that inner-city students who are at high risk for dropping out of school and other negative outcomes, are hearing the Healthy Respect message and taking it personally. Thus, the students are in a better position to make good choices, avoid teen pregnancy, stay in school, stay away from drugs and prepare for a more successful life.