Our Town | written by: DARIEN MAGAZINECT with THRIVING YOUTH DARIEN, convened by The Community Fund of Darien
Members of the Youth Asset Team with Thriving Youth Darien Program Director Sarah McCarty. The Youth Asset Team, a Community Fund Program, focuses on positive mental health promotion and youth substance use prevention. From left: Grace Vanovitch, Anna Ventker, Parker Krotee, Brinley Vrooman, Annie Genovese and Lia Mastellone
It can be particularly hard to be a kid today. We know this. Statistic after statistic confirms the mental stressors they face. The reasons why are as vast and varied as the number of young people who wrestle with them. What pins it all together is the call to do whatever we can to support our youth, to get out in front of their challenges and supply what they need to thrive in life. How? It starts with asking questions, finding out exactly what’s going on so that our response matches what will help them most. In our town, Thriving Youth Darien, which is convened by The Community Fund of Darien, is one of the leads in this important work. A biannual survey is the foundation for the work they do. As they geared up for their seventh survey earlier this year, we sat down with Thriving Youth Darien Program Director Sarah McCarty, Survey Co-Chairs Rebecca Campbell and Emily Kroenlien and survey committee member Susannah Lewis, Director of Community Relations at Silver Hill Hospital, to learn more.
Q. What is Thriving Youth Darien?
Thriving Youth Darien is a volunteer coalition started in 2008 to respond to the growing need for mental health awareness and youth substance abuse prevention in Darien. It brings together local community organizations to promote and empower positive youth development and mental health, with the goal of reducing teen substance use. The diverse group includes more than 50 leaders from 35 organizations serving youth in Darien, including mental health, substance use and healthcare professionals as well as leaders from the schools, police, town government, media and clergy.
Q. Can you tell us more about the survey?
Every two years, Thriving Youth Darien asks students at Darien Public Schools about their mental health and substance use patterns. All students in grades six through 12 have the opportunity to participate. The survey is administered in school. Survey answers are anonymous. Parents are surveyed as well.
Q. Why do the survey?
The results play a vital role in helping local organizations understand the prevalence of mental health and substance use on a local level, as well as identify some of the risk factors that may be contributing to these issues. Once we better understand the issues that our youth are facing, we can equip parents with the skills and knowledge to address these issues within their families.
The survey data also enables Thriving Youth Darien and other local organizations to develop and implement programming and other interventions to help address and ameliorate areas of concern, build upon areas of strength and support our students as they navigate adolescence.
Q. Why do you survey parents?
In the parent component of the survey, we ask questions corresponding to certain questions of the youth survey. Parents are primary figures in youth behavior, beliefs and attitudes on topics pertaining to mental health and substance use, so by administering a parent component, Thriving Youth Darien is able to compare parent and youth perceptions on a number of relevant questions, which is often instructive in planning the interventions and programs that result from the survey data. The survey arrives to parents through a link in an email from Dr. Alan Addley, Superintendent of Darien Public Schools.
Q: Is it anonymous?
Yes, the answers we collect from students and parents are anonymous.
Q. Are students in middle school and the high school asked the same questions?
Yes, the questions are designed to be consistent across age groups to ensure that data is reliable and comparable between grades.
Q. Do parents help their kids answer survey questions?
Given that students take the survey during the school day, their parents are not helping them answer the questions. The anonymity of the survey as well as the independence that students have in responding to its questions are important to the accuracy of the data.
Q. Why is the survey administered every two years?
Administering the survey biannually allows our community to track the development of the strengths and vulnerabilities of our youth across time and correspondingly adjust our initiatives.
Q. Why is it important for as many people as possible to participate?
A larger sample size will always yield data that is more representative of the full population in question. The more info we gather, the better our response and the programs we put together can be.
Q. What is the timeline for the survey?
The survey is estimated to begin in late January/early February. Results will be available before the end of the school year.
Q. Can anyone access survey results?
Yes, the survey results are posted to our website, communityfunddarien.org/thriving-youth-darien. They are also shared in presentations to parents and the community, posted in our social media channels and communicated through our newsletters.
Q. Why are Thriving Youth Darien and the survey part of The Community Fund of Darien?
Youth success is one of the key pillars of The Community Fund of Darien mission. Thriving Youth Darien and the survey that is administered through it are important parts of that.
Q. Are there other local schools in Fairfield County that administer this type of survey?
Yes, schools in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk and Westport also administer this type of survey.
Q. Will the survey results help us understand our community compared to other communities in Connecticut or the U.S.?
The Darien survey results allow us to compare not just to other communities in Connecticut but also on a national level. This helps to identify areas that may be of particular concern in our community, as well as strengths that are unique to Darien.
For more information about the survey and Thriving Youth Darien, visit communityfunddarien.org.
