Youth assessment: San Juan County students say reproductive health education, screen time and mental health need attention

Ellen (public health staff) presented findings from a youth community health assessment to the San Juan County Board of Health, reporting that students identified gaps in reproductive health education, high daily non-school screen time and ongoing mental-health concerns.

The assessment used focus groups on San Juan, Lopez and Orcas islands and incorporated the 2023 Healthy Youth Survey at the county level; Ellen said the survey is well tested and representative when participation exceeds about 70 percent. She told the board that 77 percent of tenth-graders in San Juan County reported three or more hours a day of non–school-related screen time.

Why it matters: the findings highlight areas the county and community partners plan to target in the forthcoming community health improvement planning process. The presentation also underscores differences between youth priorities and adult perceptions that may affect prevention and education efforts.

The report grouped the top youth-identified needs as (1) information about post–high school planning and wealth disparities, (2) more and earlier reproductive health education, and (3) help managing technology and social media. Ellen summarized youth comments about reproductive health: “they're going online to find out about what's happening to their body… and that they are not getting the kinds of information that they would like to have in the schools.” She also said students described repeated references to “consent” without contextual explanation and reported gaps in coverage of LGBTQIA+ topics.

School staff interviewed for the assessment described constraints in what they can teach. Ellen relayed a comment from a health educator: “I wasn't allowed to say ***** or ****** in the classroom. It's really hard to teach about reproductive health when you can't use those terms.” Multiple council members noted that state standards and parental opt-outs complicate curriculum decisions.

Adults who participated in interviews cited access to care, economic security and mental health as top needs. The presentation said local trends generally mirror state-level improvements in substance use over the past two decades and especially the last five years, while mental-health indicators have not improved. Ellen said adults expressed greater concern about substance use — including fentanyl — than youth did, and that youth reported earlier initiation of some substances compared with statewide peers, though the presenter cautioned that small local sample sizes limit some comparisons.

Ellen described procedural details: three larger school districts could participate in the Healthy Youth Survey, while very small schools such as Shaw, Waldron and Decatur were too small to be included in the county-level dataset. She emphasized that the districts own and may limit school-by-school data sharing; the county-level results are publicly available.

Board members and community participants raised next steps. Ellen said the report will be released to the community in the coming weeks and that staff will move into community health improvement planning to identify actions and partners. A volunteer-run program called OWL (noted by a facilitator in public comment) was cited as an example of existing local programs that can “backfill” educational gaps.

The board discussion emphasized outreach and follow-up: members asked that the assessment be shared with school districts and recommended community-based options when school curriculum is constrained. Ellen and board members noted a planned public rollout and follow-through as essential.

The presentation closed with positive indicators from the Healthy Youth Survey: Ellen said 48 percent of respondents scored as highly hopeful about their futures, 33 percent moderately hopeful and about 1 percent with very little or no hope.

The county will use the assessment to inform the community health improvement plan and to develop a data dashboard with more frequent updates for public indicators.