The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes and practices pertaining to Internet use-related policy-making issues in public schools and its implications on health education in Nebraska. All school board presidents (n=604) were asked to respond to a 36-item questionnaire. The instrument measured various aspects of Internet use-related policy making procedure in the public school system and attitudes regarding health education among policy makers. The face and content validity of the instrument was developed using a panel of experts in two rounds. The response rate was 22.3 percent (n=135). A comparison between first-time responders and second-time responders was done and no statistical differences were found in the study variables. Nebraska school board presidents reported that health education was not an important component to take into consideration when developing an Internet use policy, but reported that sexuality-related materials, drug-related materials, violence-related materials and commercially-oriented materials were important issues that the Internet use policy should control. Furthermore, each of these components was statistically significant in its difference in the reported regulation importance. Chi-square analyses also found that large school districts of Nebraska perceived importance of Internet regulation and a written Internet use policy significantly more than small school districts of Nebraska. Thus, this study revealed that the school board presidents of Nebraska were not aware that sexuality education, drug education, violence-related education and consumer-related issues were components of health education. Educational interventions are needed for policy makers to address this gap.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation the participants will be able to: 1. Describe the process of instrument development and data collection procedures from school policy makers. 2. Understand the Internet use-related policy making procedure in Nebraska Public schools. 3. Identify that empirical data suggests a gap exists in the perception of policy makers about health education and its various components that needs to be corrected.
Keywords: Internet, Policy/Policy Development
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.