According to the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey, sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• 35.9% of high school students have been in a physical fight in the past year
• 6.5% carried some sort of weapon to school within a 30-day period
• 9.2% were physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the last 12 months
• 28.5% of felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for 2 or more consecutive weeks that they stopped engaging in their usual activities
• 16.9% seriously contemplated suicide in the past year; 13% of those planned a suicide, while 8.4% of students actually attempted suicide
• 74.3% of students have had at least one drink of alcohol
• 25.5% reported episodic heavy drinking (5 or more drinks in a row) within the 30- day period prior to being surveyed.