Charlevoix County teens rank their concerns

Results of a survey of this area’s high school sophomores and juniors are in, and for the third time, students have named alcohol and drug abuse as their number-one concern.

The peer survey was conducted by Charlevoix County Community Foundation’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), a group of 16 students representing each of the five school districts in the county.

Nearly 60 percent of Charlevoix County’s public high school 10^th and 11^th graders—a total of 590 teens—participated in the written study, which the YAC conducts every two or three years.  This year’s assessment, distributed in February, included students from Beaver Island, Boyne City, Boyne Falls, East Jordan, Charlevoix, and the Northwest Academy.

The survey is designed to give young people a voice in what matters, and a key role in identifying their needs.  Findings from the questionnaires are tabulated and analyzed by the YAC, then used to set priorities for grantmaking and other activities.

The top ten concerns of youth surveyed this year are:

1. Alcohol and drug abuse
2. Stress and depression
3. Lack of money for personal use
4. Suicide and cutting
5. Teen sexuality and homosexuality
6. Lack of recreational facilities and things to do
7. Harassment, bullying, and gangs
8. Lack of enrichment opportunities such as theater, music, and art
9. Need for a teen meeting place
10. Mental and physical abuse

Some interesting parallels and differences can be noted among results of the surveys conducted in the spring of 2001, 2003, and 2007.  While the top two youth issues have been consistent, a new third-place concern—lack of personal spending money—was identified this year.  The subject of suicide has always been highly rated, but teens have now added “cutting,” the practice of self-inflicted wounding, as an important emerging issue.

Each year the YAC, which helps oversee a $1 million youth fund at the community foundation, awards grants totaling almost $50,000 to a variety programs that benefit youth.  In the past, YAC grants have been used to support recreational projects, environmental efforts, educational and enrichment programs, cultural events, and a host of human service initiatives.  The 2007 survey results will be used to guide grantmaking decisions and target the problems young people say are most important.

For more information about the Youth Advisory Committee, the YAC’s needs-assessment results, or the Charlevoix County Community Foundation, please contact the foundation at PO Box 718, East Jordan MI 49727; call (231) 536-2440; or visit the website, www.c3f.org.

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