Wyoming Community Foundation Calls for the Reinstatement of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey

A recently released document is calling for the reinstatement of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey in Wyoming. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

The Wyoming Community Foundation recently released a publication entitled “Wyoming Needs the YRBS” in an effort to have the Youth Risk Behavior Survey reinstated in the state. WYCF President and CEO Samin Dadelahi says the anonymous survey collects data from high school students grades 9-12 in Wyoming and across the United States.

Dadelahi said Wyoming began participating in the survey in 1991 and continued to participate until 2015. She said the Wyoming Legislature in 2016 prohibited the use of federal funding to administer the survey in Wyoming high schools.

Dadelahi said one important piece of data collection by the YRBS focuses on mental health.

Dadelahi said the “Wyoming Needs the YRBS” publication also addresses myths associated with taking a survey such as the YRBS, including the idea that asking kids about health behaviors encourages them to try those behaviors and that students don’t tell the truth on these kinds of surveys. Dadelahi encourages people to contact their representatives about reinstating the YRBS.

You can view the Wyoming Community Foundation publication “Wyoming Needs the YRBS” here.