MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WDTV) – West Virginia University is working to develop resources aimed at preventing risky behaviors in the area’s youth.
More than $300,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will allow WVU researchers to develop these programs.
The resources will target risk behaviors, such as sexting, self-harm, substance use, bullying and more.
Officials said risk behaviors in rural youth are heightened due to poverty, social isolation and lack of access to mental health treatment. Therefore, program officials are offering intensive virtual training sessions to avoid the time constraints and financial barriers posed by long, onsite sessions.
“Poverty, social isolation, lack of access to mental health treatment — those factors and others contribute to rural youths’ heightened risk for behaviors like sexting, self-harm, substance use, bullying and disordered eating,” said assistant professor Kristine Ramsay-Seaner, a counseling expert at the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences. “The average age of exposure to pornography is now 12 years of age, with some studies suggesting as early as 11. One 2021 analysis found 19.3% of youth had sent a sext, 34.8% had received one and 14.5% had forwarded one without consent.”
The team will also produce a 24-episode “how to talk to your teen” podcast series featuring half-hour interviews with national experts who offer practical guides to discussing risk behaviors in a way that’s comfortable for both youth and adults.
“We also see e-cigarette use increasing more among rural youth than among youth in small and large cities. We see that almost 8% of rural U.S. youth have substance use disorders, including 3.5% with alcohol use disorders — again, higher than in urban areas. Kids from rural places use methamphetamines more than kids from cities. They sniff inhalants like glue or aerosols more. In one survey conducted among rural high schoolers in a southern state, 30% of the kids reported sending nude photos of themselves to another person.”
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