SWYS - July 2002 SWYS Report Executive Summary

This report is a joint effort between the school districts of Argyle, Barneveld, Benton, Belmont, Black Hawk, Cassville, Darlington, Dodgeville, Iowa-Grant, Lancaster, Mineral Point, Pecatonica, Platteville, Potosi, River Ridge, River Valley, Seneca, Shullsburg and Southwestern, the University Extension Offices in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Counties, UW-Platteville's Department of Psychology and CESA #3. A total of 5,704 students participated in SWYS.

The University of Wisconsin-Extension Southwest Wisconsin Youth Survey survey was adapted to assess teens' perception of self, family, school and community; their future aspirations, worries and concerns; financial practices; and their activities, both positive and problematic. What follows is an executive summary of the results contained in this document.

Teen Concerns. Getting good grades was the greagrant concern of the teens as 96% of teens expressed a degree of worry over the issue and nearly half worried quite a bit about getting good grades. Approximately one-fourth worry quite a bit about getting along with their parents and one in five teens worry quite a bit about losing a friend or relative to death. Worries about getting a good job when they finish high school and being too fat or too thin rounded out the top five teen concerns. Older teens are more likely to seek friends for discussions about personal problems than their younger counterparts.

Tobacco Use. While 65% of teens have never tried smoking, 19% of teens report being current users of smoking tobacco with half of these reporting that they smoke every day. Five percent of all teens report smoking a half a pack of cigarettes a day or more over the thirty days prior to the survey. Eight percent of teens use chewing tobacco; the vast majority of these are males. Eight percent of teens report that their parents think it is okay for teens their age to smoke cigarettes, and these teens are three times more likely to be current smokers than teens who report that their parents think it is wrong for teens their age to smoke cigarettes.

Alcohol Use. Fifty-six percent (56%) of all students have used alcohol at some time, and 27% have used alcohol excessively at least once in the past month. More than three in four 7th graders report never having tried alcohol and only one in five 12th graders make the same claim. Over half of 12th grade males report driving a motorized vehicle after using alcohol or other drugs. Nearly half the students have ridden at least once in the past year with a driver who was drinking. One in five students worry that their parents drink too much and 15% of teens are unsure if their parents think it is wrong for teens their age to drink alcohol.

Other Drug Use. Nineteen percent (19%) of students have tried nutritional supplements (ginseng, protein powders, etc.) and 14% of students report current use of these. Marijuana has been tried by 19% of students and 11% report current use. Caffeine pills, uppers and prescription drugs are the next most used substances by teens. A significant percentage of teens lack knowledge about date rape drugs. High levels of parental monitoring are linked to lower levels of teen drug use.

Teen Sexuality. Twenty-five percent (25%) of teens surveyed have had sexual intercourse, and 80% of teens report that they are not currently sexually active. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of teens feel that sexual intercourse is inappropriate for teens their age. Eleven percent (11%) think that oral sex without intercourse is appropriate for teens their age. Sexually active teens who have conversations with their parents about birth control are more likely to report that they use birth control on a consistent basis. Seventeen percent (17%) of sexually active teens have had five or more partners. Teens who are not sure whether their parents think it is wrong for teens their age to have sex are more likely to report having had sexual intercourse.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases. One third of teens say they are either unaware of sexually transmitted diseases or would like more information. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of female respondents and 32% of male respondents report they worry at least a little about catching an STD, while 6% of females and 8% of males worry a lot about catching an STD. Fifty-three percent (53%) of teens who worry a lot about catching an STD have never engaged in sexual intercourse. Two percent (2%) of all teens surveyed have had an STD in the past. To recap HIV risk factors present among Southwest Wisconsin teens, 25% of all teens surveyed have engaged in sexual intercourse and 4% have shared needles. Of the teens that have engaged in sexual intercourse, 56% report multiple partners and 5% report a previous STD.

Mental Health Issues. Two-thirds of students report being depressed or very sad at least once in a while in the month previous to the survey and 10% report having these feelings most or all of the time. One in five teens surveyed reported having had suicidal thoughts in the past month, and 13% of students report making a plan to kill themselves at some point in their lives. Nine percent (9%) of all students report attempting suicide at some point in their lives. Still, 85% of students report being satisfied with themselves and having a positive attitude toward themselves.

Personal Safety. Eight percent (8%) of students report being threatened or injured on school property with a weapon in the past year. One in ten 7th and 8th grade females worry quite a bit about being picked on or physically hurt by another teen. One half of 11th grade girls report being victims of sexual harassment by another teen at school in the past year and 16% of all teens report being victims of sexual harassment by an adult at school in the past year. Eighteen percent (18%) of females and 6% of males report being victims of sexual abuse by another teen. About one in five teens report being victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by an adult. Nearly 30% of all sexual abuse victims report that they were first abused at age 10 or younger.

School. Sixty-five percent (65%) of all teens report getting mostly As A/Bs or Bs in their course work at school. Seventeen percent (17%) of teens are "very satisfied" with school and another 64% are "somewhat satisfied" as measured by the school satisfaction scale. Level of satisfaction is tied to school performance with teens who are "very satisfied" with school reporting a higher percentage of As, A/Bs and Bs than the general sample. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of students report their parents would not report them to school officials if the student violated a school code and the parent found out. A higher percentage of students who said their parents would report them to school officials if they violated a school report getting As, A/Bs and Bs than those who feel their parents would not report them.

Community. More than 90% of the teens surveyed "agree" or "strongly agree" that they feel safe walking around in the community. However, the majority of teens in the survey do NOT feel there are fun things to do in the community. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of 7th graders agree there are fun things to do, but only 23% of 12th grade boys and 8% of 12th grade girls report this. About 2/3 of the teens agree that they can count on police if they are having a problem. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of teens report adults in town would tell their parents if they saw the teen in a negative behavior. About 70% of teens say the adults in the community respect them and listen to them. Over 90% of teens feel it is important to help others and report they care about other people.

Peers and Time Use. Fifty-four percent (54%) of the students say they feel comfortable with their group of friends, and 30% report they fit in with many groups. Four percent (4%) of students report they are left out and 3% say they choose to be alone. One in ten teens say they don't know where they fit in. Forty percent (40%) of males and 50% of females would go to a friend to discuss a personal problem. Fifty percent (50%) of males and 65% of females spend one or more hours per week in non-school activities. Over half of the students report spending more than 5 hours each week watching TV. Thirty-eight (38%) percent of males and 36% of females spend over five hours per week on the Internet, and 7% of males and 6% of females report spending over 15 hours per week on the Internet. Sixty-one percent (61%) of 7th–9th graders eat three or more evening meals per week together with their family, but only 46% of 10th–12th graders eat three or more evening meals together with their family.

Money. Nearly half (49%) of all teens report salary and wages or tips from a job (including income from working on the family farm) as their main source of income or spending money, while 22% of all teens report that their main source of income or spending money comes from their parents as needed or requested, but not in the form of a regular allowance. Older students are less likely to report that they "never" or "rarely" set goals for their money. Teens whose parents monitor their money are more likely to say they "often" or "always" set goals for using their money. Overall, 23% of males and 21% of females report using credit cards for at least some of their purchases. Over 20% of all teens report that they "sometimes", "often" or "always" give money to their parent(s), or the adults they live with, in order to help out their family financially.

Family Relationships. Fifty-five percent (55%) of teens "strongly agree" that their family loves them and gives support when they need it and when compared to other teens, these teens are least likely to engage in negative behaviors like substance use and experimentation with sexual intercourse. Families where discussion and compromise is used to solve problems have the highest percent of teens that "strongly agree" that their family loves them and gives support when they need it. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of teens have parent(s) that practice very high levels of parental monitoring and when compared to other teens, these teens report low levels of negative behaviors.

School. Seventy-three percent (73%) of teens whose parents practice a very high level of consistency with family rules say their mother is "often" fair in enforcing rules while 70% of these same teens say their father is "often" fair in enforcing rules. For teens whose parents practice a very low level of consistency, this number drops to 33% of mothers who are "often" fair and 29% of fathers who are "often" fair. Greater consistency with family rules is linked to lower levels of negative behaviors. Only 41% of teens report that parents would turn them in to school officials if their parents had knowledge that the teen violated a school code. These teens reported lower levels of substance use and sexual intercourse than teens who said their parents would not report them to school officials, regardless of whether the teens expected to be punished by their parents or not.

Assets. Over 70% of males and 78% of females report the presence of 11 or more of the 19 assets or indicators of positive youth development identified in the survey. There is also a difference in assets by grade with 78% of 7th–9th graders reporting 11 or more assets, but only 70% of 10th-12th graders reporting this. Almost twice as many females (27%) as males (14%) report the presence of 16 or more assets. The survey also demonstrated a relationship between the presence of assets and behaviors. Seventy-six percent (76%) of teens with 16–19 assets do not drink, whereas 52% of teens with 0–5 assets drink monthly. Ninety-three percent (93 %) of teens with 16-19 assets had not been in a physical fight in the month before the survey, whereas 45% of the teens with 0-5 assets had one or more fights in the month before. Ninety-five percent (95%) of teens with 16-19 assets do not smoke and, in contrast, 52% of teens with 0–5 assets smoke monthly. Other findings show that the more assets, the higher the grades, the higher the self-esteem and the higher the parental monitoring.

Return to 2001 SWYS Survey Results