Waterloo Region released results from the Children and Youth Planning Table (CYPT) semi-annual Youth Impact Survey on Wednesday, with the results showing that wellness among young people had fallen over the past two years despite the pandemic coming to an end.
The survey, which is now conducted every two years, found that 55 per cent of youth described their mental health in a positive manner, which is unchanged from when the survey of 9- to 18-year-olds was conducted in 2021.
“We did this survey in 2021, which was in the midst of a lockdown, in the pandemic and we had hoped, maybe two years later to see a rebound in lots of areas,” CYPT manager Alison Pearson told Global News.
The survey did a deeper dive into some areas regarding mental health and 38 per cent of respondents said they were feeling sad or hopeless over the previous year which is down from 52 per cent. Meanwhile, 23 per cent felt low or depressed, which is down from 32 per cent.
“And then we see growing concerns in the areas of experiences of homelessness, food insecurity,” Pearson explained. “So there’s a mixed picture here.”
The survey was answered by close to 2,000 kids from throughout Waterloo Region with three per cent of respondents saying they were experiencing obvious homelessness, but another 13 per cent were going through hidden homelessness. These are up from two and eight per cent respectively.
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“So we see a rise in both of those categories from 2021, and we have a total sampling of 13 per cent of the respondents who have either experienced homelessness or hidden homelessness,” she said.
The number of kids who are going to bed hungry also was up to 15 per cent from five per cent in 2021.
While efforts have been made over the years to tackle bullying, it remains an issue among children and teens in Waterloo Region.
“I feel like bullying shifted from being really overt to being more under the radar,” said Kian Mirzaei, a Waterloo high chool student who serves as a CYPT Youth Connector. “Where bullying can be online, where people can make mean comments of other people and ignoring is a big part of bullying, too.”
This is somewhat true as 62 per cent of respondents said they had been bullied over the few months prior to the survey, but 16 per cent said they had been kicked or punched, which is up from six per cent in 2021.
Not every aspect of the survey was headed in the wrong direction, as 78 per cent of the respondents said they had at least a moderate level of life satisfaction (up 7 per cent) and their sense of belonging had also gone up.
This is the third time the survey has been conducted in Waterloo Region by the CYPT. The region says the framework for the questions was developed by UNICEF Canada in an effort to understand how youths are doing with topics including mental and emotional health, connection to the environment and participation in the community, among others.
“Whenever we do these surveys, it’s a really important opportunity to be hearing firsthand from young people about their well-being,” Pearson said. “A lot of the data that we rely on in our communities about children and youth are adult report information.”
The survey is just the beginning of a four-part cycle for the Children and Youth Planning Table.
“Then we compile and present the data to organizations and changemakers in the community,” Mirzaei explained. “And that’s what we’re doing right now by releasing the data. And then through that, we do the sense-making sessions and other focus groups where youth can share their opinions on the data and how we can better that.”
The final step will be an action report, where the teens recommendations will be compiled on how to improve the situation.
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