Results from MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey, administered to students in grades 6-12 in fall 2025, show that nearly three out of four surveyed said they had a trusted adult at school. However, technology’s effect on sleep and mental health was a concern.
Data has been shared with the school committee and will continue to be analyzed and rolled out to parents and the community in the upcoming months.
“Truly, I view this data as crucial in serving the community and understanding areas of strengths and concerns. It allows us to go back over the data from the last 20 years,” said Jason Verhoosky, director of youth and family services. “These results have assisted us in our community education efforts, prevention services, wellness curriculum focus, and how we can better show up for the community.” The survey’s categories include:
• Substance use (smoking, vaping, nicotine use, alcohol use, marijuana use, opioid use, stimulant use and prescription drug misuse)
• Bullying (school bullying, cyber bullying, areas/topics of bullying, help seeking/services/support for bullying)
• Healthy relationships (relationship violence, protective factors, access to services, sexual health)
• Mental health (stress and anxiety, depressive symptoms, suicidality and mental health disparities). This area also extensively covers access to services, barriers to services, individual and community support structures, access to trusted adults and peer support.
• Digital media use (AI, technology, digital communication, social media, online gambling, negative and positive impacts of technology on mental health, early access to smartphones, technology impact on sleep and in-person social interactions)
• Protective factors (adult support, school connectedness, peer support, healthier behaviors, disparities in protective factors).The survey is given on a two-year cycle and parents can opt their children out of taking the survey by writing or calling in. They can also come in and preview the survey beforehand if they have concerns. The 165-question survey is administered in the advisory block at the high school, and during a special homeroom at the middle school, where students have 122 questions to answer. The survey is entirely anonymous and no students’ information or identity is connected to their results.
Scott Parseghian, director of Health and Wellness, said that the survey yielded some positive findings. Seventy-six percent of all students reported that they had a trusted adult at school. He said that the faculty and administrators can also garner information on these topics when the students feel comfortable talking to them and strong connections exist. Additionally, he reported a decrease in usage of substances including alcohol, vaping pens, and cannabis. Additionally, the survey showed an upward trend in positive mental health after some negative years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parseghian said that one area of concern is sleep issues related to technology use. A small percentage of students reported betting on Kalshi, and on the using pouches containing nicotine powder called ZYNs. He said that young people are seeing more and more adults societally engaging in betting on sports and using on TV and online.
“They even see coaches on the national level putting things in their mouths during games,” said Parseghian.
Wayland is one of 25 cities and towns that receive free funding from the MetroWest Health Foundation to administer the survey and to analyze the data.
