As the school year is starting to get into full swing, I wondered what parents find the most concerning for their kids when sending them back to school. A recent poll from the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health asked adults to identify health problems they consider “big problems” for children and teens. The top 10 concerns were:
- Bullying & cyberbullying (61%)
- Not enough exercise (60%)
- Unhealthy eating (57%)
- Drug abuse (56%)
- Internet safety (55%)
- Child abuse & neglect (53%)
- Suicide (45%)
- Depression (44%)
- Teen pregnancy (43%)
- Stress (43%)
Keep in mind that this poll asked about children birth-18 years old. Talking to parents of teens in Highlands County, many would list stress higher on their list of concerns. This survey also asked parents of children birth-18 years old about their top 10 health concerns that impacts their children.
Health Concerns Parents Have for Their Children
- Bullying & cyberbullying (34%)
- Internet safety (30%)
- Stress (28%)
- Motor vehicle accidents (28%)
- School violence (25%)
- Depression (22%)
- Unhealthy eating (22%)
- Not enough exercise (21%)
- Drug abuse (20%)
- Sexting (20%)
I found it very interesting that there were different patterns in results about racial/ethnic groups parents. Hispanic and white parents viewed bullying/ cyberbullying and internet safety as their main concern. Hispanic parents also found stress to be an issue for their children. Many black parents found problems affecting the safety of their children in the community to be the most concerning issue, including school violence and motor vehicle accidents.
Researchers concluded that bullying continues to be the number one concern of U.S. adults, followed by the leading childhood obesity health problems- unhealthy eating and not enough exercise. This leads me to question our parents and trusted adults of Highlands County students.
What is the most important concern you have as your children go back to school?
To view the entire report, visit Mott Poll Report.
Larry Moore
Larry is the Program Director of the iMAD Program. As a community leader, he is dedicated to helping youth make healthy choices.
