Community Coalition for Teens
Teen Health Survey
A graph from the latest survey report.
Project Overview
A graph from the latest survey report.
Since 2003, CCT has worked with school districts in Franklin County and the North Quabbin to conduct the annual Teen Health Survey of students in grades 8, 10 and 12. The survey examines substance abuse rates, and assesses "risk factors" that increase the likelihood of problem behaviors and "protective factors" that help keep our youth safe. Topics covered in recent surveys include mental health, violence in the community, attitudes about peer risk taking, dating and sexuality, exercise and nutrition, and decision-making. Using the results of the survey, we are better able to design programs, secure funding, and educate parents, students and the community.
The annual Teen Health Survey was inaugurated in 2003 in five Franklin County school districts: Frontier, Gill-Montague, Greenfield, Mohawk Trail, and Pioneer Valley. The Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District joined the process in 2006, and the Athol-Royalston Regional School District joined in 2007. The Franklin County Technical School has signed on to administer the survey to students beginning in 2008.
Current Activities
In 2009, participating school distrcits administered the Prevention Needs Assessment. This survey provides data on risk and protective factors related to youth problem behavior including substance abuse, teen pregnancy, violence, dropout, and delinquency. CCT compared data from the 2009 survey to results from 2006 and 2003 and found that we are making progress on certain risk and protective factors and seeing an overall decrease in substance use among teens in Franklin County and the North Quabbin! 2009 Teen Health Survey Press Release
You can download a printable pdf file of the 2009 Franklin County Survey Results and of the 2009 Survey Questionnaire. For a clear understanding of which questions related to which risk and protective factors, please refer to the 2009 Item Dictionary. A report tracking only the original five districts involved in the survey since 2003 is also available: 2009 5-District Survey Results. For questions regarding the survey data, please contact Jeanette Voas, Evaluation Coordinator, at 413-774-1194 x 119.
Future Plans
The 2009 survey results for individual school districts have been made available to the districts. CCT works closely with the schools as to how the information is used and disseminated, as well as helps to design and implement programming in keeping with the survey results, as requested. Plans are now being made, in collaboration with the Regional School Health Task Force, to administer the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey in February 2010.
This page was last updated on 2/11/08.