Parents break silence on school survey
Anonymous questionnaire deemed ‘inappropriate’
NORWALK — “How many times have you had five or more drinks in a row?”
“How frequently have you smoked cigarettes during the past 30 days?”
“Have you ever had sexual intercourse (“gone all the way,” “made love”)?”
Those were a few questions listed in a recent “attitudes and behaviors survey” that Norwalk students filled out in class last week. It left some parents upset about the content of the questions.
The questionnaire was distributed to seventh-, ninth- and 11th-graders on Nov. 27 and 28 and leaders of the civic organization Norwalk ACTS said the point was to collect data to support youth in the community.
About 3,000 students filled out the anonymous questionnaire and Executive Director Anthony Allison said he expects to share the results with parents in January.
Dani Monsarrat, the mother of a sixth-grader at Roton Middle School, said she saw the survey even though her daughter did not take it and thought the questions were “pretty inappropriate” and some were “over-reaching.”
“Those topics are stuff parents should be talking about with their kids,” not school leaders, she said while waiting for her daughter in the school’s parking lot Friday afternoon.
After the survey, Monsarrat said she discussed it with other parents, some deciding it was necessary while others disagreed.
Shannon Queiroga, a Norwalk ACTS member and director of communitybased services at the Child Guidance Center of MidFairfield County, said the data would help reduce
“Those topics are stuff parents should be talking about with their kids.” Dani Monsarrat, Norwalk parent
substance abuse rates among youth and the responses would inform the group’s process on how to empower parents and support students.
The school district’s chief of communications, Brenda Wilcox Williams, agreed.
“It will provide critical data to organizations that are supporting children in Norwalk,” she said. “That was the overall driver of doing the survey to begin with.”
Bridgeport, Trumbull, Stratford, Monroe, Danbury and Fairfield school districts have used the survey already, Wilcox Williams said.
Some of the questions asked students to rank how important it would be to accept responsibility for their actions or tell the truth when it’s not easy. Others asked students to indicate how involved their parents were when helping with homework or if their parents attended school meetings. More vivid questions asked if students were suicidal, if they had a history of eating disorders, if they smoked cigarettes or used drugs or if they used protection during sexual intercourse.
When the results are released next month, parents will get a sense of how many students would be comfortable sharing this kind of information with their guardians.
Unlike some of their parents, students at Brien McMahon High School didn’t seem fazed by the questions Friday afternoon.
“Personally, I think since it was anonymous, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” said Tess Jordan, a junior. “People talked about it because a lot of questions were outdated.”
Senior Michael Macari felt the same way.
“It’s useful to the school. I don’t know why parents would find that as a problem,” he said.
Denique WeidemaLewis, a Norwalk ACTS member and director of prevention at Positive Directions, said it’s the first time the survey was handed out to students.
“It is the hope that we will continue this process every two years,” she said.
Parents had the opportunity to opt out, meaning if they didn’t want their child taking the survey, they could indicate that, Wilcox Williams said.
The school district sent a letter to parents on Nov. 19 advising them the survey would come to certain classrooms, Wilcox Williams said. She said students could also skip questions that made them uncomfortable.
On behalf of Norwalk ACTS, the school district sent out a follow-up letter on Friday thanking parents, students and school staff who supported the implementation of the 40-minute survey.