Did you know that 95% of invited high schools in Vermont administer the Youth Risk Behavior Survey?
And Vermont has one of the highest participation rates. Yet, there is room for improvement.
UP for Learning and the Vermont Department of Health have created youth and adult-specific videos, posters, and social media posts to explain why the YRBS is important. Scroll to the bottom of the page to access these materials.
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a behavioral health survey developed and maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disease, injury and social problems among youth.
The YRBS is administered in middle and high schools across the U.S. every two years. Since 1993, the Vermont Department of Health and Agency of Education have sponsored the YRBS in Vermont.
Educational leaders, public health professionals, policymakers, and youth all use the YRBS to better understand their schools and communities and design targeted actions to address areas of need.
The YRBS is next being administered in Vermont schools in the early 2025.
Question: What percent of VT high school students do you think have tried vaping?
Answer: 32%
…Did you guess higher? Many people do. We bring our own lived experiences and other biases to our perceptions of youth behavior. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) helps educational leaders, public health professionals, policymakers, and youth see challenges more clearly and target action to help address them as they currently exist.
In the 2023-2024 school year, 42 school-based teams of youth and adults used YRBS data to create change in their communities through UP for Learning’s Getting to ‘Y’ program.
"I feel like we have a lot of reign here and we’re very empowered...and I think that’s super important. That’s why we keep on coming back to the YRBS and GTY, because we feel like we’re making a difference.”
Did you know that 95% of invited high schools in Vermont administer the Youth Risk Behavior Survey?
And yet, just 66% of those students complete the survey.
Even if your school is already administering the survey, you can help!
How to help:
https://www.upforlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/copy_0230CA9C-5D19-4EFF-9A6A-7993EBA7CB7C-1.mp4 UP worked with current Getting to Y teams to create this TikTok style video to help create awareness of the YRBS. Download and share!
UP for Learning created this video highlighting youth perspectives on the YRBS and why it is important for them and their school community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHBZCC7V7gE
Download, print, and share these Vermont-specific resources with adults to help promote awareness of the YRBS. Vermont can get more accurate results if adults take
This promotional video (here with Spanish subtitles) was developed by the CDC to help encourage students to participate in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
The Massachusetts State Student Advisory Council (SSAC) convened for their second retreat of the year in Everett, MA on Wednesday, September 18th. The purpose of
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