The kids are not all right.

That’s according to the Toronto District School Board’s 2017 Student and Parent Census Data released Tuesday, which provides insight into how students feel about their educational experience, physical health and emotional well-being.

When compared with the census from five years earlier, fewer kids in Grades 7 to 12 enjoy school, feel a sense of belonging and a connection with their teachers. Also, fewer are physically active, eating healthily and report feeling good about themselves, while more say they’re often nervous, stressed and worried about grades. Also on the rise, is the amount of time spent on screens, especially on social media.

Researchers looked at data on the emotional well-being of students in those grades — this includes how they see themselves and the future, and if they often feel sad, lonely and anxious — and found an overall 10 per cent decline. For instance, in the last census, 87 per cent of Grade 7 students, and 69 per cent of Grade 12 students were emotionally well. By comparison, now 80 and 60 per cent per cent, respectively, are doing well. Emotional well-being declined for both boys and girls, but the drop was more significant among females.

“Starting in Grade 7, a steady decline begins, where many students don’t feel their school is as welcoming as it needs to be,” said John Malloy, director of the TDSB. “They don’t feel they get as much help and support as they need. And they don’t feel they belong. That is a data set that we are paying very, very close attention to.”

At a press conference, at Jarvis Collegiate Institute, he said well-being is a “growing focus” of the TDSB, and around the world. In other industrialized nations, there have been similar declines in the well-being of students, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Well-being includes cognitive, emotional and social skills and physical components such as sleep, diet, exercise and screen time.

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“Growing evidence demonstrates that well-being and students’ achievement are truly interrelated,” said Malloy.

More than 220,000 students and parents completed the census in April 2017. It is done every four or five years to identify changes, trends and needs. The data — provided by kids in Grades 4 to 12 and by parents of children in Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6 — includes demographic information such as race, religion, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status, which includes family income, parent occupation and parent education. Nearly half of all students come from a lower socio-economic status.

“This information offers important insights into what students’ lives are like outside of the classroom and what supports we need to offer inside the classroom to respond,” said Malloy.“When we, as educators, know who our students are, when we listen closely to their needs, we then can provide service that meets those needs.”

Karim Ouazzani Touhami, 17, in Grade 12 at Jarvis Collegiate, says kids his age are under increasing stress because of “more responsibility,” such as a part-time job, caring for younger siblings, taking on more household duties, and dealing with girlfriends and boyfriends. Plus, there’s the pressure to get into college or university.

“The pressures are huge,” says Ouazzani, who hopes to go to the University of Toronto or to the United States on an academic and athletic scholarship for soccer. In large part, he says, that pressure comes from his mother, who’s always on him to hit the books.

“Parents really have to relax a little bit with their kids, because I can’t succeed if there’s pressures around me and too much stress.”

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Focus groups for students in Grades 11 and 12 have begun in 16 high schools to get at the root of why older students feel less connected.

To address these issues, work will be done system-wide by the board, which has a multi-year strategic plan that aims to build a culture of student and staff well-being. And, all of the board’s 583 schools have been given data specific to their own student population to help them address their own student needs.

This is the third census, and the first to include input from children in Grades 4 to 6.

Overall, parent data was positive, with a majority saying their child received the necessary supports and were satisfied with their education. Most of the students said they felt accepted, safe in school, that rules were applied fairly and that teachers had high expectations of them. Overall, students in Grades 4 to 6 were more positive than those in Grades 7 to 12. Feelings of emotional well-being dropped incrementally by age and over time.

This census data, compared with figures from 2011-12, reveal some startling statistics.

There was a decline of 4 to 7 per cent in the number of Grades 7 to 12 students who feel a sense of belonging in school, and a 10 to 14 per cent drop among those who enjoy school. For instance, 49 per cent of high school students, and 59 per cent of Grades 7 and 8 students like school; and 62 per cent of secondary students, and 69 per cent in Grades 7 to 8, feel like they belong.

When it comes to relationships with teachers, fewer Grades 7 to 12 students feel encouraged (7 to 10 per cent less) and supported (6 to 9 per cent less). The latest census noted that screen time is on the rise. About 40 per cent of Grades 7 to 12 students watch TV or videos for more than two hours on a school day, up by about 10 per cent. Thirty-eight per cent of high school girls, compared with 26 per cent of boys, use social media almost round-the-clock.

Malloy says that kind of data, may elicit suggestions of banning devices — the province is asking parents about this as part of its public consultations about education. But, he notes that we live in an increasingly digital world so it’s important to support students and promote healthy use of devices and social media.

In the last five years, more Grades 7 to 12 students say that often — or all the time — they feel lonely, nervous or worried and under a lot of stress or pressure. Negative emotions were highest among high school students, with 19 per cent saying they often feel sad, 22 per cent lonely, 41 per cent nervous and 49 per cent under a lot of pressure.

Fewer Grades 7 to 12 students reported feeling good about themselves — this is down about 10 per cent from 2011-12 — and pleased with their appearance, which is down about 5 per cent. Just 60 per cent of high school kids feel good about themselves and 54 per cent like the way they look.

Rebecca Trinh, a Grade 12 student at Jarvis, says social media amplifies pressures for girls to look like “Barbie doll” types, with blonde hair, blue eyes and a perfect body — or, they risk being judged by others.

“It’s a constant thing” says Trinh, 17. “It puts pressure on us to always look good at school … Every day we walk into school and (students) will notice things, like ‘Oh, she doesn’t look right.’”

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