School Engagement Continues to be a Strong Predictor of Mental Health Among Wisconsin's Middle/High School Students

Friday, September 13th, 2024 -- 8:01 AM

(Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio) School engagement continues to be one of the strongest predictors of mental health among middle and high school students. 

Unfortunately, according to Corrinne Hess with Wisconsin Public Radio, a recent survey of 12 -to 18-year-olds found they’re less engaged in school than even a year ago. Teens are also less excited about going to a four-year college.

The survey about Gen-Zers’ school attitudes was conducted by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation. Like similar surveys, including the Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey released in June, all students, regardless of race, gender or household income, reported feeling more excited and prepared for their future when they felt engaged at school.

“The students who are most engaged in school are more than four times as likely as the least engaged students to strongly agree they have a great future ahead of them and are 10 times more likely to strongly agree they feel prepared for the future,” the survey found.

The Gallup and Walton Family Foundation conducted the same survey of teens in 2023 and 2024. One of the biggest differences came with the prompt: “In the last seven days, I have learned something interesting at school.”

In 2023, 68 percent said they had. This year, that number dropped 10 points, to 58 percent, among the same students. The survey also found that mental health continues to pose a challenge to many Gen-Zers and is strongly correlated with overall life evaluation and outlook on their future.

Those with excellent mental health are more than three times as likely to feel prepared for their futures than those with only fair mental health, and about seven times as likely to feel prepared as those who have poor mental health.

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