Utah conducts the Student Health and Risk Prevention—or SHARP—survey every two years.
The last survey was in 2023, so students will be able to take it again during this school year. Summit County Health Deputy Director Kendra Babitz said it’s a rare window into youths’ experiences.
“This is really the only way that we can see data at a community level regarding youth risk behaviors and protective behaviors,” she said on the “Local News Hour.” “So the survey will ask things about substance use, it will ask questions that are also protective: are they having regular meals with their family? Are they having prosocial interactions with their peers and their family? Are they experiencing bullying?”
The survey is anonymous which helps ensure the data is honest and accurate.
But it’s also an opt-in survey, so parents have to sign their kids up to take it. Individual school districts decide when to send out the consent form.
Participating families need to opt in two weeks before the survey happens in spring 2025.
“This survey has been around since 2003 and the nice thing about having it offered every other year is we can see our trends going up, or are they going down? Where do we need to put our resources for these services?” Babitz said.
Some of the latest trends Babitz highlighted pertain to marijuana use.
About 28% of Summit County 12th-graders reported using marijuana at least once in 2021. In 2023, nearly half said they’d used it before.
2023 was the first year the SHARP survey collected information about vaping marijuana. Over 30% of 12th-graders said they’d vaped it before.
At the same time, Babitz reported more students are saying they feel close and connected to their families.
