Every year, Fairfax County sends out a youth survey to students in 6 – 12th grade. It’s an absolute, anonymous, and voluntary survey given each year to students that examines their behaviors, experiences, and other things that influence the health and well-being of Fairfax County’s youth.  

The survey asks about things like risky behavior, mental health, physical health, and safety. They send out the surveys to get information on the county’s youth and see how the community’s healthy choices affect them.

Angiza Hamdard, an 8th grader says, “I think they should work on making edits to the survey because I wasted 30+ (questions) saying no. They should make it kind of like if you say “No, you don’t do drugs” the next question shouldn’t be ‘When do you do drugs?’ followed by ‘Where do you get drugs from?’ I don’t think it’s that useful either because if someone smokes they are not that likely to say ‘Yeah, I smoke!’ Most likely they will try to hide. However, if they still do it to collect valuable data, they should program the survey differently”

Zineb Larachi, an 8th grader states, “I think the survey is useful in many ways if it’s used properly. Surveys contain sensitive and important information/questions. I think if students are sharing personal information there would be a reason and an action taken.” 

 What do you think of these youth surveys?  Do you think they are useful? Do they need changes? Let us know what you think in the comments!