BACK	Lifestyles of Rural Saskatchewan

 Survey Graphs

Mrs. Jones' grade 9 health class resently conducted a survey on use of tobacco, by questioning students from grade 7 to 12. We have writen this article on our results to make the public more aware of the facts about tobacco in our school.

We found that tobacco users are a minority in our school, with 52% of students having never tried any tobacco products, and only 12% being regular users. The graph below indicates the amount of people who use tobacco in our school.

Of the students who had never tried tobacco products, 29 were females, and 22 were males. Of all the regular users, 10 were males, and only 2 were females.

We also found in the data that we collected that 96% of the student population surveyed said that they were aware of health risks related to tobacco. This was the leading reason for not using tobacco, with 37 of the 56 nonsmokers saying that they didn't want to risk their health for tobacco. This was followed by 8 people who chose not to smoke because they thought it was a bad decision, and just didn't want to. Other reasons students gave for staying away from tobacco were the smell, and the cost of tobacco products.

Secondhand smoke is another issue addresed in the survey. We particularly wanted to discover the amount of cigarette smoke students are usually exposed to. The chart shows the percentages of students who never have to deal with second hand smoke in the home, and the amount that are around if often.

We hope that the survey gives a good and accurate idea about how tobacco affects the school, students, teachers, and parents in Medstead. Overall we are proud that we have received a chance to address the issue of tobacco. We found aspects that our school is doing great in, and discovered some main areas that we can try to improve.