2026 Student Health Survey Data Released
On October 16, the Communities That Care Coalition released the 2026 Student Health Survey Data for Franklin County and the North Quabbin at a joint meeting with the North Quabbin Community Coalition in Athol. The results – presented by the Coalition’s Youth Leaders – show:
- Youth mental health has improved to just about pre-pandemic levels, but youth are still experiencing significantly more depression and anxiety than 10 to 20 years ago.
- Time spent on screens outside of schoolwork has risen dramatically over the past two decades. Despite concerns about the effects of early technology use on mental health and learning, most local youth report getting their first smartphones and joining social media before age 13.
- A surprisingly high percentage of local cisgender (not transgender) boys agree with statements that reflecting negative attitudes about women, which are increasingly prevalent online. Among these boys, stronger agreement with these statements is associated with greater loneliness.
- Youth drug and alcohol use is at historically low levels.
You can find the full survey results, as well as video presentations of the data by Youth Leaders on the data section of this website HERE.
