Survey will look at teen 'norms'

By Eric Freehling Eagle Focus Editor

April 15, 2013 Last Updated: April 15, 2013 10:17 AM Community

Schools asked to take part

It's hard to tackle a problem, when you don't know what the problem is.

It's hard to promote positive messages to Butler County youths when you don't have the facts to back them up.

Getting those facts is the purpose of a town hall meeting set for Thursday evening to gauge support for administering the Pa. Youth Survey in county schools in the next school year.

Sponsored by Butler County Human Services, the meeting is for “anyone who lives in Butler County, specifically targeting youth,” said Denina Bautti-Cascio, a consultant with Sage Action Consulting of Beaver Falls, who will be moderating the meeting.

“I believe we are primarily looking for ideas. We may have suggestions. We will be sharing information,” said Bautti-Cascio.

That information may show that a perceived problem among youths is actually a myth, according to Beth Ehrenfried-Neveux, prevention specialist with Butler County.

“The actual norms may be different,” said Ehrenfried-Neveux.

“For example, take teens and alcohol use. You may hear that all teens are drinking.”

“But the data might show that only 15 to 20 percent are,” said Ehrenfried-Neveux. “We are giving them the data that shows that actually 80 percent of teens are not drinking.”

Bautti-Cascio said, “That type of approach is very powerful for youth who are growing up and on the fence.”

“But to get that sort of social norming approach, you need reliable data, we don't have reliable data,” said Ehrenfried-Neveux. “That's where the Pennsylvania Youth Survey comes in. ”

PAYS is a survey administered to students in grades 6 through 12 to collect information on health issues, truancy, bullying and violence.

“We hope to get some school districts in the county on board to administer the PAYS in the 2013-2014 school year.” said Ehrenfried-Neveux

“We want to partner with the schools to get that data so we can do accurate risk behavior planning,” she added.

“We've got the county OK we need for schools to partner with us to administer the survey,” said Ehrenfried-Neveux, adding she hoped to get all the school districts in the county to participate in PAYS.

The state has made this a priority. In fact, Ehrenfried-Neveux said, the Pa. Department of Education, the Pa. Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and the Pa. Commission on Crime and Delinquency are collaborating and allocating funds specifically for PAYS in the 2013-14 school year.

She said Butler County Human Services had preliminary meetings with school districts earlier to address any concerns they may have had.

Bautti-Cascio said she couldn't predict how many students in Butler County would take the survey because none of the school districts has yet committed. But, she said, in 2011 in Washington County the survey was taken by 1,088 students.

Ehrenfried-Neveux said, “People need to realize what a valuable tool this is. It's an opportunity to leverage other resources and funding.”

She said the county recently lost out on funds because it lacked PAYS data. She said the survey hadn't been done in the county for nearly 30 years.

The survey data is analyzed, said Ehrenfried-Neveux, to identify social norming activities and also risk factors.

“For example, at a particular school we may learn the 7th- and 8th-graders are using tobacco and that you need to target that age group,” she said.

The data belongs to the school, and it is anonymous. There is no way to track information to a particular school or a particular student, said Ehrenfried-Neveux.

“The goal is to partner with the school to provide services that are needed in the schools.” said Bautti-Cascio.

Ehrenfried-Neveux said the data could provide good PR for schools, for example “80 percent of students in X district, feel safe in their neighborhoods.”

Ehrenfried-Neveux said she will have continued conversation with the districts to get the PAYS survey distributed in the 2013-14 year.

Bautti-Cascio said she hopes the participation of the school districts and the data that will be collected can cause a paradigm shift.

“Positive messaging will become the norm when we start looking at all the great things that are happening,” said Bautti-Cascio.