Welcome back-to-school!
This summer, the Communities for Youth Empowerment Team has been working with St. Luke's and local school partners to launch the second year of youth data collection via the Youth Well-being Survey.
This survey is an important part of our community’s upstream prevention work as the results help us make informed decisions about how to support young people in our community. The youth survey also provides us with a means of checking in on how our current prevention efforts are going and helps us see if we are having an impact.
How Can We Improve on Last Year’s Survey?
Last year, the Blaine County School District participation rate on the Youth Well-being Survey was 63%. This is a great participation rate! Communities for Youth has a participation rate threshold of 65%, and we feel confident that can be reached this year. The 65% minimum participation rate may seem a little strict, but this standard is in place to help make sure we make the decisions that have the best chance of improving our community and ultimately the lives of our young people.
To help make the consent process easier for parents/guardians and to increase awareness about the Youth Well-being Survey generally, our initiative has been working with local school leaders from Blaine County schools to increase communication and to make the consent form more accessible.
There are also lots of ways parents/guardians and other community members can assist in making the Youth Well-being Survey a success this year.
If you are a parent/guardian of a teen in middle or high school please ensure you have provided permission/consent for your child. Consent forms for the survey are embedded within school registration packets in PowerSchool.
Closer to the actual date of survey administration for your child’s school, we encourage you to speak with your child about the survey. Key points to cover with your teen include:
The survey helps school leaders and others create a more youth-friendly community.
No young person is required to take the survey or to answer all the questions once they have started.
All surveys are 100% anonymous and cannot be used for any kind of disciplinary purpose (getting someone in trouble).
If you have already provided consent for your child, you can also help us spread the word to other parents about the importance of having a high participation rate for our community. Some parents simply forget to provide consent, while others may not read through all the details and think the survey is just something “extra” their child doesn’t need to take part in. There are also some survey-related myths that other parents/guardians may be concerned about. Some key points to address with other parents who may be skeptical include:
For the vast majority of teens, asking about their experiences with “risky” behaviors (e.g., using/misusing substances like alcohol or tobacco, dating and sexual activity) does not persuade them to engage in those behaviors.
Prior research has shown that the vast majority of teens take surveys like the Youth Well-being Survey seriously and do not intentionally make-up answers or lie about behavior.
Questions on the Youth Well-being Survey have been purposefully worded in ways that minimize feelings of discomfort or stress. Any question that a young person does find distressing they are encouraged to skip.
Things to Remember About the 2024-2025 Youth Well-being Survey
Youth participation requires parent/guardian consent however, parent/guardian permission does not mean a teen is required to take the survey.
All surveys are 100% anonymous, no identifying information will be collected and it is not possible to tie any answers provided to any individual student. All data is collected using a highly secure online system.
All reporting to schools and community members is done at the aggregate level and not at the individual level. Individual level data is never shared.
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