Adolescence is a notoriously risk-filled period in human development, wherein young men and women often engage in behaviors that can have lifelong implications for their physical and mental well-being. While perhaps age-appropriate to push boundaries and experiment with forbidden behaviors that include alcohol, drugs and sexual activity, such conduct can have immediate and lasting consequences, particularly when teens lack sufficient information about the behavior in question.
To gauge the risks Colorado teens are taking, and to get a sense of the young people’s general mental and physical health, three state agencies partner to administer a statewide survey of middle and high school students, asking probing questions about verboten but typical behaviors. It is critical information for formulating prevention, education and response programs to support adolescent health.
The Healthy Kids Colorado survey is given biennially to adolescents as a joint venture between the Colorado departments of public health and environment, education and human services’ office of behavioral health. The next survey is scheduled for this fall. It is a voluntary, anonymous questionnaire distributed to 40,000 students across the state, inquiring about health-related behaviors such as sexual activity, drug and alcohol use, depression, nutrition and physical activity, and parental and community perceptions about risky behavior. The data collected has been used to shape and secure federal funding for programs – that aim to shore up teens’ support systems, including sexual health education, parental involvement efforts, drug and tobacco awareness programs, and policies that support adolescent mental and physical health.
Schools, districts, students and parents each are given the option to decline participation, and students can skip any question they wish. Nevertheless, some lawmakers – as well as some members of the Colorado Board of Education – would like to see the burden of participation shift from opting out to opting in. Doing so would compromise the validity of the information gathered, as well as significantly drive up the cost of gathering the data and could ultimately serve to undermine the programs that help teens navigate the challenges of adolescence.
The opt-in proposal was a part of the Parents Bill of Rights measure that the House Public Health Care and Human Services Committee killed Tuesday, but the state education board is considering shifting to the parental opt-in requirement for the Healthy Kids Colorado survey. The board delayed a decision on the matter last week and has heard no testimony in support of the change. There is no sound reason to make it.
Instead, the board should reaffirm the value of the survey – while reaffirming the rights of parents, students, schools and districts not to participate. Like it or not, teens are engaging in risky behavior: 31 percent of high school students surveyed in 2013 reported having had one or more alcoholic drinks in the previous 30 days, and 33 percent reported having engaged in sexual activity. More than 24 percent reported feeling sad or hopeless for two consecutive weeks within the previous year, and just less than half of respondents engaged in regular physical activity.
These numbers suggest that adolescents need support and education to help guide them through their teenage years. To provide that, the state and school districts need as accurate a baseline of behaviors’ prevalence as possible. Anonymous volunteer surveys – with an opt-out alternative – are an effective means of gathering that information. The state should ensure that they remain such.
