D.C. PARLEY ORGANIZER HIT FOR TEEN SEX & DRUG SURVEY

A nonprofit research group that helped organize today's White House
Conference on Teenagers has raised the hackles of parents in some
states for asking students detailed questions about sexual activity
and drug use.

Three parents are suing the Ridgewood, N.J., school district for
distributing a 156-question survey by the Search Institute of
Minneapolis that asks youths how many times they have taken various
illegal drugs, whether they have tried to kill themselves and what
protection they use if sexually active. The Radford, Va., school board
refused to let the survey be distributed. Parents in school districts
in Colorado and Ohio also objected.

Peter Benson, the institute's president, said the questions about sex
and drugs are there because "these are the public health issues that
have been framed in America for 20 or 30 years." The institute says
more than 1 million students have taken the survey in the last 10
years, and the vast majority of communities have been happy with the
results.