Have you ever been in a situation where you may have forgotten a bit of your homework from the day before, and plan to complete it in advisory only to hear that there’s a super important survey that you have no choice but to take? I’ve been in that situation, and it is extremely frustrating.

Where did all of these required surveys come from all of a sudden, and why are they so important? Lots of these surveys ask the same questions, and it’s not like students are totally honest about their answers. Even if a survey promises anonymity, it doesn’t incentivize the students to be more honest with their answers. What’s the point in sending out a survey if the answers aren’t even going to be accurate? 

The Illinois Youth Survey claims to help schools find and assess problems in the student population, but why try to track those problems if nobody is going to tell the truth? Surveys like the Illinois Youth Survey ask very personal and specific questions, and it makes sense that people wouldn’t want to just share that kind of information without knowing where it’s going.

Many people also find these surveys to be a waste of time. I know I do. When someone has homework they need to do, obviously, they’d rather do that so they don’t get a bad grade or a missing assignment. Sometimes they even interrupt regular class, giving teachers less time to teach and students less time to complete classwork. 

Third parties already do so much to learn about what’s going on in our schools grade-wise through things like standardized testing. Why are people outside of our school trying to get so much information on our students?
Some people may argue that these surveys are important for parents to decide what schools they send their kids to. That’s not really the case in our area. Others say they help employers and colleges to see the statistics for these decisions, and how can it if they are truly anonymous. 

In my honest opinion, the surveys we have to take aren’t necessary, and I think that our school should try to limit the number we are required to complete.