Students at McKelvie School are participating more in highrisk behavior and have fewer “developmental assets” than they did four years ago, a new survey of 885 students shows.

Assets include community values, positive family communication, integrity and reading for pleasure. These assets are defined as concrete, common sense, positive experiences and qualities essential to raising successful young people.

“I was expecting better results this time, but clearly we still have work to do,” said Cathi Bachhuber, chairman of the Education Committee of the Coalition for Bedford Youth.

With the help of a consulting firm, CBY questioned 885 students about 40 internal and external assets. The sixth- to eighth-graders averaged 21.3 out of the 40 assets.

Much of the results were higher than a 2002 survey, but still lower than a 1998 survey. “The one positive I am seeing in most cases is that we are down from the 1998 survey. That gives us some hope,” Bachhuber said.

Alcohol use was higher, along with use of household drugs such as inhalants “The use of illegal drugs is down, but use of the drugs you can get in your cabinet increased,” Bachhuber said.

Other survey results showed more than 25 percent of eighth-graders reported having driven in the last year with someone who had been drinking. Also, 16 percent of all students said they are often sad and have thought about suicide.

Superintendent Tim Mayes said the Coalition for Bedford Youth did well in keeping the public informed, and now the school district will look toward problem solving.

By keeping an additional school resource officer in the 2007-08 budget, the school board has already moved toward improving relationships between Bedford teens and adults, he said.

The advisory program designed for Bedford High School will also be a step in the right direction, he said.

Bachhuber, who teaches special education at McKelvie, said the most surprising reported change is that violence is on the rise. She has heard students talking much more about fighting, including group fights on the youtube.com Web site, but has not seen a rise in the number of fights, she said.

About 30 percent of the students who took the 2006 survey reported increased incidences where they had hit or had hurt someone.

School resource officer Bill Donahue agreed violence is increasing.

“Not being on patrol but checking in on what’s going on throughout the town, I think violence is definitely going up, especially domestic violence, especially in Bedford,” said Donahue.

Students also reported higher levels of risk behavior.

“I still am thinking, ‘Well, not in Bedford,’ but not so with these results,” Bachhuber said.

Lindsay Ross, 17, a senior at Manchester High School West and Coalition for Bedford Youth member, said she has seen an increase in risk behavior since entering high school. This, though, she attributed to the age of students.

About 50 surveys were discarded, and Ross addressed the validity of student answers, saying she believes the findings are accurate. She took the survey in 2002 and said only a few students answered untruthfully then.

“I know that some kids did do that, but for the largest percent of students taking the survey, I think they answered truthfully,” Ross said.

Bedford High School Principal George Edwards said it is good to be proactive about it. Having the high school and middle school next to each other will also help foster relationships between older and younger teens, he said.

The high school will challenge students academically and create a community, he said.

Bachhuber agreed a proactive approach should be taken.

“I like the fact that we are going to be shifting the paradigm from a negative approach -- looking at the problems, these are the problems -- to a very positive approach,” Bachhuber said.

For more information, visit Coalition for Bedford Youth at www.cbynh.org, or e-mail info@coalitionforbedfordyouth.org.