Question 1: What aspects of school typically give you stress or negatively affect your mental health?

• Over 80% of students said that the academic aspects of school caused them the most stress   
• For some groups of students, such as non-binary students, 2SLGBTQIA+ students, and students with disabilities, the social aspects of school was another significant stressor  

Question 2: On a scale of 1-5, how familiar are you with the mental health resources available at your school?  

• About 70% of students said they were ‘not at all familiar’ or ‘slightly familiar’ with mental health resources at their school   

Question 3: Can you name some of the mental health supports that you’re familiar with?  

• When asked to name some of the mental health supports they are familiar with, many students responded, “I don’t know”  
• Some supports they did name include:  
  • Supports offered by the Board: guidance counsellors, trusted teachers, social workers, HWDSB Helps, student resource rooms  
  • Supports outside of the Board:  friends and family, self-care practices (e.g., going for walks, listening to music, exercise, meditation), social workers in the community (e.g., John Howard), and help lines (e.g., COAST, Kids Help Phone)  

Question 4: Have you used the mental health supports available at your school?  

• About 15% of students have used the mental health supports available at their school.    
• We found that Grade 12 students, and students who identify as female, as 2SLGBTQIA+ and as living with a disability were more likely to access supports.  

Question 5:  If you answered yes to the previous question, how would you rate the quality of the mental health supports you received?  

• About 80% of students found the services ‘not helpful’ or ‘somewhat helpful’   
• 20% of students found the services ‘super helpful’  

Question 6: What would make you more inclined to use the supports offered at your school?  

• Being more aware of the services offered and what they can expect when accessing those services  
• If there were fewer roadblocks to accessing supports, such as having to go through a lot of staff to get support, waitlists to speak with someone like a guidance counsellor, and having more time during school to get help.   
• Feeling like they have an adult they can go to, who they trust, who will listen, who can relate to their lived experiences, and who won’t judge them.  
• Having a variety of supports available (e.g., peer supports, intensive supports)  
• If conversations around mental health were more normalized  
• If they could get help anonymously or know staff won’t tell their parents   

Question 7: What resources would be helpful to you that don’t already exist?  

• Students had a lot of ideas for helpful resources.   
• Students talked about how a change in their environment would help them with their mental health.  For example, they mentioned things like: having a relaxation room, less vandalisms in schools, safer bathrooms, having a place to pray, or having a place to take a walk when you’re upset.    
• Students also named things that would help them manage their own emotions and behaviours such as fidget toys, noise cancelling headphones, or therapy dogs.   
• Students also asked for more opportunities to talk about their mental health, through regular well-ness checks, dedicated mental health seminars, or planned activities to relieve stress.   
• And lastly, students spoke about resources that would relieve the pressure they feel from school.  For example, more support for their academics, limits on the amount of homework they have, or more opportunities to take breaks such as flex days. 

Question 9:  In your opinion, what contributes to an inclusive environment?  

• The top three things that students said contribute to an inclusive environment are: safe adults (75%), having a safe space to go to when you need support (57%), and positive student culture (49%)  

Question 10: How well do you feel your identity is represented in your school environment (e.g., people, curriculum, learning materials, etc.)?  

• About a third of our students felt ‘sometimes represented’ and a quarter felt ‘often represented’  
• Students who identify as having a disability, as Two Spirit or LGBTQIA+, Black students and Indigenous students do not feel well represented compared to the rest of the students who filled out the survey  

Question 11: What is the best way for you to learn about resources that are offered through HWDSB? (Select up to three)  

• The top 3 ways students want to learn about HWDSB resources are the classroom teacher (60%), school announcements (50%), school email (42%)  

Question 12: How did you hear about this survey?  

• About 70% of students heard about the survey through the classroom teacher.  About 20% from school announcements, and 10% from the school website or email.   

PDF version: Student Appreciation Letter

Dear HWDSB Students,

It’s Deema, Aisha, and Gloria, and we’re so excited to connect with you all again to share some updates about the Student Voice Survey. In May of 2022, we worked alongside the Student Senate to create a survey that gave grade 7-12 students a platform to share their perspectives on three key topics: student well-being, inclusive spaces, and communication at HWDSB. The survey results would help guide the priorities and mental health strategy at HWDSB.

The survey was a HUGE success, receiving 4,490 responses, with participation from all 13 secondary schools and 57 elementary schools. We can’t thank every single one of you enough for sharing your experiences, insight, ideas, perspectives and stories. It truly means the world.

Through the survey data, we were able to identify several key themes: students are mostly unfamiliar with the mental health resources available to them, discussions around mental well-being needed to become more common, and there is still a stigma around accessing mental health support. These responses have sent us a clear message: we need to take action to ensure every HWDSB student is aware of the mental health resources available to them and work to remove barriers and gaps that exist.

So, what have we been up to since then? Over the past few months, we have been working with HWDSB’s mental health team, system social workers, the research and analytics department, and the communications department to understand the data and determine our next steps.

Our short-term goals include sharing this data back with you, the students. You’ll be able to find a breakdown of the survey results on the HWDSB website. We’ll continue to promote mental health resources and supports at a school and board level.

After that, we’ll be connecting with different student groups (Student Senate, Student Voice Advisory Committees, CC:ROSE, etc.) to continue identifying the gaps that exist and build a long-term plan that is informed by your experiences and suggestions. In the long-term, the survey results and discussions will inform HWDSB’s three-year mental health strategy, the priorities of the Student Senate, and serve as a guideline for future student surveys and consultations.

If you have any questions regarding the Student Voice Survey and what this means for the future of HWDSB students, please feel free to reach out to us at:

[email protected]

Thank you all again so much, you have and continue to play such an important role in the future of HWDSB and our school communities.

Sincerely,

Deema Abdel Hafeez,
2021-22 HWDSB Student Trustee, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board

Aisha Mahmoud
2021-23 HWDSB Student Trustee, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board

Gloria Li
2022-23 HWDSB Student Trustee, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board