Results from a 2018 health survey given to Blaine school district students once again show that kids are struggling with anxiety, depression, substance abuse and other mental health challenges. Unlike in past years, however, a wide-ranging coalition of professionals, volunteers and community groups is combing through the data and looking for solutions.
The Healthy Youth Survey is an anonymous survey given throughout Washington state every other year to students in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades. Blaine school district students took the most recent survey in fall 2018. The survey’s 244 questions cover a variety of behaviors and attitudes toward alcohol and drug use, family life, nutrition and mental health.
For the Blaine school district – and throughout the county and state – mental health data is some of the most troubling in the survey. About one in three Blaine students surveyed reported experiencing depressive feelings in the past year and one in five who answered a question about suicide said they had made a plan for suicide in the past year (not all students answered every question; about one-third of students surveyed answered this question).
Overall, results were similar to the 2016 survey. One area with a significant increase was vaping (the use of electronic cigarettes that heat a liquid containing nicotine to vapor). About 38 percent of 12th graders who answered the question reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. That’s an increase of 15 percentage points from 2016, when 23.1 percent of seniors who responded reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days.
Other highlights of the survey include:
– The percentage of students who reported using alcohol in the past 30 days was similar to 2016 data. Long-term trends show a decline since 2006 for alcohol use among 10th and 12th graders.
– Aside from vaping, tobacco use is down.
– Fewer percent of Blaine students reported feeling depressed than the statewide average (36 percent of Blaine 12th graders versus 41 percent statewide, and 33 percent of Blaine 10th graders versus 40 percent statewide).
– Blaine students reported feeling “moderately” or “highly hopeful” at a rate of 5 to 8 percentage points higher than the average for Washington state (60 percent of Blaine 12th graders and 68.4 percent of 10th graders felt highly hopeful).
– The percentage of kids who reported considering suicide is roughly the same as in the 2016 survey; the numbers are up for eighth graders (26.9 percent considered suicide over the past year) and down for 10th and 12th graders (19.1 percent and 27.7 percent, respectively).
Though much of the data is concerning, mental health professionals at the school district said they feel they have more support and more ability this year to use the data to make positive changes.
“The trends in the data are not really different. The thing that’s different is our approach as a collective group to help come up with solutions,” said Randy Elsbree, school district executive director of student services.
The school district and Whatcom County presented data from the Healthy Youth Survey at an April 9 meeting of Birch Bay-Blaine Thrives. Led by the Whatcom County Health Department, Birch Bay-Blaine Thrives focuses on social, emotional and behavioral support services for students and families.
That meeting included 25 people from various community groups including the Healthy Youth Coalition, the Boys and Girls Club, the Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center and the Bellingham-Whatcom County Commission Against Domestic Violence.
That process is new, while the Healthy Youth Survey began in 2002, the Blaine school district didn’t begin releasing its Healthy Youth Survey data until 2017. Many districts across the state don’t release their survey data.
“I think a lot of times when people would look at Healthy Youth Survey data they would say, “Oh my god, what is the school doing?” There would be a sense of blame,” said Geof Morgan, a facilitator and consultant for Birch Bay-Blaine Thrives. “Data is often used to attack, so a lot of times people have been afraid to release it.”
By bringing a broad group together to review the data, school districts don’t have to feel solely responsible for combating health concerns, Morgan said. As Birch Bay-Blaine Thrives formed, those involved found there are more resources available than they realized, he said.
That’s made this year’s review of the data more meaningful than in the past, Elsbree said.
“When we have 25 people sitting in the room, I can’t tell you how powerful that is in comparison to just sitting down as a school to review the data,” he said.
Kaatri Jones, school district mental health counselor, expressed a similar sentiment.
“I felt like it’s ok. I can do my part of this work and do it with fidelity. I can go to bed at night and actually sleep because other people are doing their part,” she said. “It’s not that other professionals haven’t been contributing to Blaine youth, I think this forum for conversation has just been a great step.”
Another change from 2016: Blaine schools have many more student-led groups that focus on health. School groups meet, discuss and host events around domestic violence and sexual assault, consent, substance abuse, anxiety, depression and bullying.
High schoolers are also reviewing Healthy Youth Survey data, and a group of students will discuss what they think of the results at the next Birch Bay-Blaine Thrives meeting, from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 9, at the school district boardroom at 765 H Street. Also at that meeting, Birch Bay-Blaine Thrives members will discuss what areas to prioritize for the coming year.
By studying how the data for different areas of health relates, the group has discovered that it doesn’t need to form task forces for each troubling area – improvements in one area can have positive impacts across the board.
Students who get more exercise tend to experience less stress and anxiety, and therefore are less likely to abuse drugs, for example.
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