During SRT on Monday, students were asked to participate in the annual Indiana Youth Survey. The anonymous survey was comprised of 41 questions about students’ drug and alcohol use, gambling, mental health, family dynamics and perceptions of school. Many students had taken the survey before on paper and noted the comparable ease of completing it in the new online form.

Seniors Rae Victor and Mia Trueblood both opted to complete the survey and agreed that it most likely would be an accurate and helpful source of information for researchers.

“I feel like since it’s voluntary, no one took it for the sole purpose of skewing the data,” Victor said. Trueblood added that she felt the survey was “very thorough.”

However, Victor found it “neglectful” that there were only three questions about mental illness and thought that the survey should go as in depth in that area as it did in other areas, like drug and alcohol use. They suggested that future surveys incorporate more questions about students’ support systems for mental health.

Victor was also confused by questions which asked students about how people in their neighborhoods would react to various illicit behaviors.

“I did my best to answer the questions truthfully, but for some questions I did not have enough insight,” Victor said.