By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Alcohol use and mental health challenges were some of the main areas of concern identified in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
Nurse Coordinator Toni Rebelo recalled during the School Committee’s March 12 meeting that the YRBS has been administered to secondary school students every other year since 2017. She said the survey was administered to students in grades 6-12 last fall.
“The survey covers a wide range of topics, including mental health, nutrition, physical activity, substance use and other risky behaviors,” said Rebelo. “The data we collect from the YRBS helps us to identify trends in student behaviors, enabling us to not only address challenges but also identify strengths in our community. It’s instrumental in assisting us with policies and improving interventions that support the overall well-being of our students. It’s important for the community to know that we are doing very well compared to state averages.”
John Snow, Inc. (JSI) Project Associate Rebecca Millock said 86 percent of Lynnfield Middle School students and 85 percent of Lynnfield High School students took the YRBS survey.
Millock said 4 percent of middle school students reported experiencing discrimination because of their race or ethnicity, 3 percent were discriminated against for their gender identity, 2 percent because of their sexual orientation and 3 percent for their religion. She said 5 percent of high school students reported experiencing discrimination because of their race and ethnicity, 3 percent for their gender identity, 4 percent because of their sexual orientation and 3 percent for their religion.
“White students were less likely to experience discrimination based on their race or ethnicity, while students of another race were significantly more likely,” said Millock. “Transgender students were more likely to experience discrimination because of their gender identity. LGBTQ+ students were significantly more likely to experience discrimination because of their sexual orientation.”
Millock said 3 percent of middle school students and 7 percent of high school students reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime. She said 3 percent of high school students reported experiencing sexual dating violence, 2 percent reported experiencing physical dating violence and 11 percent reported experiencing emotional dating violence.
“This data shows there is a continued need to address relationships in school,” said Millock.
Millock said 15 percent of LMS students and 13 percent of LHS students reported being bullied on school property in the last year. She said 10 percent of middle school students and 15 percent of high school students reported being the victims of cyberbullying over a 12-month period.
“The percentage of electronic bullying for high school students has increased slightly since 2017,” said Millock.
School Committee member Jim Dillon said “a student has the right to go to school without being bullied.” He asked what steps do the secondary schools take to prevent bullying from occurring.
Lynnfield High Assistant Principal Michael McLeod said school officials conduct investigations into bullying incidents when they occur.
“We interview both parties involved and get parents involved, guardians involved and counselors involved,” said McLeod. “We have conversations about what happened.”
Lynnfield Middle School Assistant Principal Jeremy Greenwood said school officials try to explain to bullying perpetrators how they have harmed the victim in order to get them to change their behavior.
In response to a question from Interim Superintendent Tom Geary, McLeod and Greenwood both said most of the bullying instances reported to them have occurred online.
Millock said 25 percent of middle school students and 49 percent of high school students “reported their mental health was not good sometimes, most of the time or always in the past 30 days.”
“For the middle school results, female and LGBTQ+ students were significantly more likely to report their mental health was not good,” said Millock. “On the high school survey, female, transgender and LGBTQ+ students were significantly more likely to report their mental health was not good.”
Rebelo said it is “really is alarming how on a daily basis our kids perceive their mental health is not being in a good place, particularly female students and LGBTQ+ students.”
“This is not just in Lynnfield,” said Rebelo. “This is across the country. There is a mental health crisis for our female and LGBTQ+ students. We are working on it, but we can do more and can be better.”
Millock said 8 percent of middle school students reported experiencing depression, 5 percent engaged in self-harm, 3 percent seriously considered suicide and no students attempted suicide. She said 18 percent of high school students reported experiencing depression, 9 percent engaged in self-harm, 7 percent considered suicide and 1 percent attempted suicide.
The JSI, Inc. consultant said 59 percent of middle school students reported having at least one teacher or adult in a school they could to talk to, 67 percent reported having at least one non-family adult outside of school they could talk to, 89 percent had a family adult and 86 percent had a friend they could speak with about a problem.
“The percentage of students who had an adult in school or a family adult to talk to has increased since 2017,” said Millock.
Millock said 65 percent of high school students reported having at least one teacher or adult in the school to talk to about a problem, 68 percent reported having at least one non-family adult outside of school they could talk to, 85 percent had a family adult and 91 percent had a friend they could speak with about a problem.
According to the survey’s results, 1 percent of LMS students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days while zero students reported using electronic cigarettes, cigarettes, marijuana and misusing prescription drugs. Millock said 25 percent of LHS students reported drinking alcohol in a 30-day period while 10 percent of students smoked electronic cigarettes, 10 percent used marijuana, 2 percent smoked cigarettes and 1 percent misused prescription drugs.
“Current use is also lower for all substances compared to state results other than high school alcohol use,” said Millock.
Millock said 5 percent of middle school students and 40 percent of high school students reported having “sexual contact with another person.”
“Sexual contact included things such as kissing, touching and sexual intercourse,” said Millock.
Millock said 53 percent of LMS students and 77 percent of LHS students reported spending three or more hours on screens on an average weekday that was not related to school. She said 62 percent of middle school students and 26 percent of high school students reported getting eight or more hours of sleep on a school night.
McLeod and Greenwood both said the data included in the survey’s results will be used to implement program changes and new interventions to better support students. McLeod said the data will be used to plan professional development opportunities for educators.
In response to a question from School Committee Chair Kate DePrizio, McLeod said the mental health and substance use data was very concerning. He said another area of concern is that LGBTQ+ students have told him they don’t want to use school restrooms because they fear getting bullied.
School Committeeman Phil McQueen said the discrimination that LGBTQ+ students and students of color reported has to be addressed. He also said more work has to be done to make sure students have someone “they can talk to” in and outside of school.
“Those are big things that need to be worked on,” said McQueen.
School Committee Vice Chair Jamie Hayman thanked all of the students for taking the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
“I know this might sound Pollyannaish, but anything above a zero is totally unacceptable,” said Hayman. “As Jim said, every kid deserves to go to school without being bullied. It’s great that we are trending in the right direction, but if there are sexual assaults going on, that is completely unacceptable. It goes beyond the schools. It goes into the community. We need to address this and acknowledge it.”
Hayman noted that a number of teachers were listening to the presentation at the meeting. He said students’ mental health challenges have created “a cycle that takes a toll on our teachers.”
“When you have kids come into classrooms who are not ready to learn, that takes away learning time,” said Hayman. “It’s a cycle that will become unsustainable at a certain point. We have a lot of work that we need to do and we need to get others on board in the community.”