SWYS - 1994 Executive Summary

This report is a joint effort between the school districts of Bloomington, Cassville, Fennimore, Iowa-Grant, Lancaster, Potosi, Southwestern, West Grant, the University Extension Office in Grant County and the School of Family Resources and Consumer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  A total of 2,423 students participated in SWYS.   

The University of Wisconsin-Extension Teen Assessment Project survey was selected to assess teens' perception of self, family, school and community; their future aspirations, worries and concerns; and their activities, both positive and problematic. 

Teen Concerns.  Getting good grades was the greagrant concern of Grant County teens with girls more concerned than boys.  Approximately one-third worry that they might not get a good job when they finish high school and about getting along with parents at home.  Females were considerably more worried than males about being too fat or too thin and about the loss of a friend or relative because of death. 

Alcohol Use.  Fifty-six percent of all students have used alcohol at some time, and 27 percent have used alcohol excessively at least once in the past month.  One in four students have ridden at least once in the past month with a driver who has been drinking.   

School/Community.  Sixty-one percent of students enjoy going to school, and feel their school enforces rules fairly.  Older students perceive school a little less positively than younger students.  Nearly half (48%) of all teens plan to attend a four year college after high school.  One in five students plans to attend a vocational/technical school.  Over one-half of 7th graders think their communities have fun things for kids to do.  Older teens are less likely to feel this way.   

Parental & Community Monitoring.  Most parents know where their teen is after school and where their teen is going.  They know the least about the parents of their teen's friends, their teen's plans with their friends and how their teen spends his/her money.  Over three quarters (78%) of teens who feel their parents are interested in their schooling are getting good grades.  Teens who are closely monitored by their parents are almost four times less likely to have gotten drunk in the past month than teens who are not closely monitored.  Over three quarters of all teens believe other adults would tell their parents if they saw them doing something wrong or drinking alcohol.  

Mental Health Issues.  Approximately one in four teens (24%) surveyed reported having had suicidal thoughts in the past month, and nearly one in five (19%) have made a plan for suicide some time in their life.  One in ten (9%) teens reported having attempted suicide at some time.  Overall, teens most frequently turn to their friends for advice and emotional support.  After friends, teens listed parents as the second most sought source of advice and support followed by a sibling. 

Peers & Time.  One in four students is afraid of doing things their friends will not approve of.  Nearly one of five students says they do things to be more popular with friends.  One out of ten say they let friends talk them into doing things they really don't want to do.  Nearly one fifth of teens spend less than one hour or no time on school work per week. Twelve percent of teens don't worry about getting good grades.  Four out of five teens spend some time each week doing fun things with parents.  The majority of teens are not employed.  As teens age, the employment rate increases.    

Teen Sexuality.  Twenty-eight percent of teens surveyed have had sexual intercourse.  Nearly one in five sexually active teens reported never using birth control, while approximately half use birth control consistently.  Overall, 2 percent of females have become pregnant and 3 percent of males have caused a pregnancy.  The number of pregnancies among females increases more than ten times from 7th to 12th grade; however, the rate of pregnancy among sexually active teens is much higher among the younger teens.  Females report being forced to do something sexual four times as often as males.  Non-sexually active teens perceive many more costs to having sex than sexually active teens.  The top three reasons given by sexually active and non-sexually active teens for not having sex include (1) fear of disease; (2) pregnancy could mess up plans for the future; and (3) pregnancy may occur.   

HIV Risk Factors.  Over two-thirds of all teens report no behaviors which put them at risk for HIV infection.  Two-thirds of sexually active teens use condoms.  Males are more likely to use condoms than females.  Among sexually active teens, nearly two-thirds are at higher risk for HIV infection.  Slightly more than half of sexually active teens report two or more sexual partners.  Two percent of teens report ever having a sexually transmitted disease and 3 percent report ever sharing a surgical needle. 

Family Relationships.  Three-fourths of all Grant County teens believe their parents think it is wrong for teens their age to drink alcohol.  Teens are much more likely to talk with their mother than their father about personal problems.  Two-thirds of teens rarely or never talk with their father about personal problems.  Nearly one-third of teens have seriously thought about running away from home the past year.  Nearly half of teens say they never or rarely lie to their parent(s) or guardian(s).  According to teens, slightly more mothers (42%) than fathers (36%) usually or always explain the reason for rules.

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Tom Schmitz, Grant/Lafayette County Youth Development Educator
Youth and Agriculture Center P.O. Box 31, Lancaster, WI 53813
Phone: 608-723-2125   Fax: 608:723-4315   
E-mail: thomas.schmitz@ces.uwex.edu