Government Taking A Peek Into the Lives Of Students, Or Just Being Peeping Toms?

Warning **  today's blog contains explicit material, not meant for younger readers - unless they live in Wisconsin.

Dane County Wisconsin - The home of progressivism lives up to its name. An on-air host at WISN, Vicki McKenna, shed some light on a student survey that has been given to Dane County students for many years that asks intimate questions like:

• Which of the following best describes you: Straight, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning
• If I'm home after school between 3-6:00 there is: always, usually, seldom, never - a parent present
• Is one or more of your family members involved in a gang?
• How many cans or cups of the following drinks have you had in the last week: soda, energy drink, sweetened drink like Snapple, coffee, milk?
• Do you have a disability that limits certain activities for you?  If yes which one (long list of disabilities provided)
• When was the last time you saw a dentist?
• Do you wear a seat belt while driving or riding in the car?
• Do you have any long term emotional or mental health problems?
• Have you ever choked yourself to make yourself pass out?
• During your life, who have you had contact with?  males, females, no contact, females and males
• How old were you when you had your first sexual contact (vaginal, anal, oral)?
• Have you ever had sex with people while under the influence of alcohol marijuana or other drugs?
• Is at least of your parents intoxicated at least once a week?

The list goes on, but it doesn't get better.  This on-line survey is administered to kids in 7th-12th grade through the schools. It is voluntary and students are promised anonymity. It comes from the Dane County Youth Commission. The fact that some of the questions are wildly inappropriate is obvious. Most businesses would be sued if they asked these questions of people who had reached the age of majority, let alone a minor. The bigger question is, "What do they do with the data?"

See the results of the 2009 survey if you would like to see the full list of questions asked.

The Youth Commission says it uses the data to plan services for youth in Dane County. Sounds good. But if they have too many kids responding that they stay up very late at night, what exactly is the Youth Commission going to do about that? If they see kids are drinking a lot of soda, what authority does the Youth Commission have to change that?


There are several questions on the survey whose answers provide no meaningful data.  "About how many people your age do you think have ever had sexual intercourse?"  If students grossly underestimate that number, does it serve a useful purpose to show them that many more kids are sexually active?  If they overestimate but proudly list themselves as abstaining, does anyone need to intervene to correct their perception?

Questions about whether they have been in foster care or have a family member in prison attempt to get at how many kids might need support for those conditions. But self reporting is notoriously inaccurate and the Youth Commission admits that they "sample" this data which means they are not getting full reporting from every student. They can get accurate foster data from Child Protective Services and inmate populations from the Dept of Corrections.  So why ask the student?

The main page of the Youth Commission Assessment lists both the aggregated survey results and several pdf documents, most of which deal with homosexuality.  Clearly this is an issue for them.  But a quick review of their own reports show that this is not an issue for the students.  Only 1% of them report homosexual tendencies and 99% of them report knowing where to go for support about their sexuality.

So is there a need for this 68 page survey or is this just voyeurism on the part of Dane County? One clue may be found in the Arkansas Needs Assessment Survey, a similar survey about drug and alcohol use, which parents are notified about in advance and given the option to opt out.  On their website they answer why a school would want to participate in this type of survey:

• Provides data for the No Child Left Behind reporting requirements AT NO COST to the district

 Their data is not available for public review as Wisconsin's is.

Since the story broke, others have begun reporting similar types of surveys being given at their schools.  One teacher even noted that he has requested another teacher proctor this survey as he cannot, in good conscience, give this to his FOURTH GRADERS.  If parents were aware that these surveys were being given to their children, would they support it? Have they taught their kids that when the top of the document says "This is voluntary" they can decline to fill it out?

We would like to hear from teachers (who can comment anonymously) whether you have ever seen or been asked to give such a survey in your school.