Norwalk student-use survey: 70% response, declines in depression and self-harm indicators since 2021

Norwalk and partner organizations presented the district's biennial Student Use Survey on Feb. 21, reporting responses from about 70% of 7th–12th graders (roughly 4,000 students) and highlighting declines in several mental-health indicators since 2021 alongside decreases in team-sports and club participation.

Margaret Blatt of Positive Directions, who led the presentation, said the survey returned a high response rate that allows reliable subgroup analysis. "This was an incredibly robust survey. We surveyed 70% of all 7th through 12th graders with about 4,000 students answering the survey in full," Blatt said. The presentation covered protective factors (trusted adults, peer connections) and risk factors (unsupervised hours at home, housing and food instability, and exposure to violence).

Key findings presenters highlighted: a drop in the share of students reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness from 39% in 2021 to 19% in 2024; suicide ideation reported by 9% of respondents and suicide attempts by 3%; and an observed decrease in bullying reports compared with the prior survey. Presenters attributed some improvements to expanded mental-health supports and community partnerships introduced after the earlier survey years.

At the same time, the survey showed declines in extracurricular participation: team-sports participation fell from 44% to 39% and club participation and lesson-taking decreased since the prior cycle. Presenters and board members discussed transportation and funding constraints as barriers to expanding after-school activities.

New questions in 2024 covered cell-phone use and social media. Median reported age for receiving a smartphone was 10.5 years and for signing up for social media was 11.5 years. About 70% of respondents reported using social media 1–4 hours per day; 7% reported eight or more hours daily. Roughly half of students said phone use negatively affected their mental health, and 58% had tried to reduce their phone use in the past year.

Presenters noted substance-use lifetime rates remain relatively low but said the average reported initiation age for alcohol, vaping and marijuana was about 13–14 years, indicating middle school as an important prevention target. Margaret Blatt and local evaluators recommended bolstering middle-school supports and expanding accessible after-school opportunities to reach unsupervised students. The full dataset and slide materials will be posted by the Norwalk Partnership on its resources page.