Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Long Trail School takes part in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and sponsored by the Vermont Department of Health and Agency of Education. The YRBS has been administered every other year in Vermont since 1990, and takes less than 35 minutes to complete. The YRBS gathers information about health risk behaviors of 6th through 12th grade students. The survey will ask about nutrition, physical activity, injuries, sexual behaviors, tobacco, including vaping, alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use. Results from the YRBS help us determine the extent to which adolescents engage in or experience health risk behaviors. The results from the YRBS support public health officials, educators, and community organization’s ability to assess and improve efforts to reduce health risk behaviors among adolescents throughout the state and nation. They help us develop and evaluate health-related programs and secure future funding.

The YRBS is anonymous and survey procedures have been designed to protect your child’s privacy. Some students may find certain questions to be sensitive. However, students will not put their names on the survey and student login information is not recorded. Individual survey responses will not be divulged in a report of the results or disclosed to any school employee.

For this survey to be accurate, it is important that all students, regardless of whether they have engaged in health-risk behaviors, are given an opportunity to participate in the survey. We would like all students to take part in the survey to best understand the issues and experiences of youth, however, the survey is voluntary. As a parent, you have the right to inspect the survey before it is administered and to opt your child out of participating in the survey. In addition, students may skip any questions they do not wish to answer or stop taking the survey at any point without penalty.

More information including previous reports and a copy of the survey is available on the Vermont Department of Health YRBS webpage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Long Trail’s School Counselor Jody Sanderson at (802) 867-5717 x180.