Iowa is the latest state to opt out of the CDC’s benchmark Youth Risk Behavioral Survey, thinning the data that has long been used to monitor students’ mental health and physical safety. The findings have also been used to drive local, state and federal policy decisions around school and community funding for counseling, drug rehabilitation and related services.
Officials in a wave of GOP-controlled states have recently dumped the decades-old CDC poll that conservative activists have linked to critical race theory and social-emotional learning concepts that they fear shame white students. But some bluer states—such as Colorado and Minnesota—have also declined participation because officials have said the national survey isn’t comprehensive enough.
As most educators know, the Youth Risk Behavioral Survey, also known as the YRBS, covers alcohol and drug use, sexual activity, nutrition and other behaviors that the CDC says “contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth.”
The results of the most recent survey, released in February, warned that female high school students are faring worse than their male classmates. While students overall reported decreased sexual activity and substance use, an increasing number of young people are experiencing violence, mental illness and suicidal thoughts. Alarmingly, more female students have been victimized by sexual violence and rape.
Stifling the Youth Risk Behavioral Survey
Iowa schools have participated in the YRBS for 30 years but state Department of Health and Human Services officials told Iowa Public Radio last week that they are skipping the biennial poll to focus on disseminating the results of their own Iowa Youth Survey, which covers grades 6, 8 and 11, and was introduced in 1999.
One advocacy group, however, is concerned that, unlike the CDC survey, Iowa’s homegrown poll doesn’t ask about gender identity (though it does cover sexual orientation.) “It’s really the only one that allows us to see the specific needs of trans kids,” Anne Discher, the executive director of Common Good Iowa, told Iowa Public Radio. “So we’re doing away with the opportunity to really have fine grade data around health and mental health that includes trans kids.”
Florida’s Duval County Public Schools also abandoned the survey earlier this year after the state Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz called the YRBS “inflammatory and sexualized.” He also warned Duval administrators that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration believes the survey asks “leading questions phrased in a way that may actually introduce risky behaviors to students,” News4Jax.com reported.
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“The YRBS has been used to provide the district and health partners with extensive data about the experiences of our students and the services they need,” Superintendent Diana Greene told News4Jax.com. “We know we are serving multiple students as young as middle school who are already moms and dads. Even though this survey is going away, we will do our best to remain attentive to the experiences and behaviors of our students and continue to work with other community partners to address their needs.”
The most recent Duval County Youth Risk Behavior Survey revealed “alarming” increases in suicide risk, hopelessness, fighting and weapons while drug and alcohol use declined, WJCT News reported.
Officials in Colorado opted out of the next YRBS because they feel that samples from individual states are too small to provide actionable data, KHN reported. The state will put its energy behind Healthy Kids Colorado, a survey that covers about 100,000 students—nearly 100 times the number the last CDC’s state-level survey, Emily Fine, youth survey manager at the Colorado health department, told KHN.
Fine added that Healthy Kids Colorado is more useful because schools receive their own results.
Where input leads to action
Results from the Youth Risk Behavioral Survey not only generate headlines but are used to craft policies to better support students. North Carolina on Tuesday unveiled a new statewide School Behavioral Health Action Plan to increase investment in mental health services, preventative care and related student support.
The plan calls for training school staff to better recognize emerging behavioral health issues and expanding school-based telehealth to provide behavioral health care in high-needs districts. It would also provide funding to parents, school staff and community members to create behavioral health care coalitions.
