The
2005 Southwest Wisconsin Youth Survey (SWYS) - A joint project
with: Grant, Lafayette, Richland, and Crawford County UW-Extension
Introduction to SWYS (Formerly
called the TAP - Teen Assessment Program)
In 1989 the Southwest
Wisconsin Youth Survey (SWYS) survey was introduced to Grant County
schools. In later years it was conducted in Iowa, Richland and
Crawford Counties. It has been repeated in Grant and Iowa Counties.
The idea behind these surveys, the 2001Southwest Wisconsin Youth
Survey and the 2005 SWYS that will be conducted in Grant, Lafayette,
Richland and Crawford Counties is to gain valuable information
about the teen population in order to more efficiently address
the needs of local teens, families and communities. Specifically
the surveys attempt to address the needs of youth by providing
reliable information on a few key questions:
- What are the most serious problems faced by teens in the
area?
- How widespread are the problems?
- Are there any clues as to the causes and possible solutions
for the problems?
- What can we do to help?
The 2001 Southwest Wisconsin
Youth Survey was administered by participating local schools with
these questions in mind. The schools utilized the expertise of
local UW-Extension faculty members and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville
to organize and implement the survey as well as to analyze the
data and publicize the results. CESA #3 provided a forum for project
coordination. School districts analyzed their data to determine
their individual issues and allocate what resources they could
to address these issues.
It is our belief that as we continue to tackle problems facing
local youth, a better, updated understanding of our young people
and the challenges they face is needed. We also believe that even
with current data, adults can make incorrect assumptions about
how young people are feeling and see the world. Therefore, if
we are to truly make a dent in the issues raised in this report,
it is important to involve young people in developing strategies
to address them.
We look to the 2005
survey to build on the work of previous surveys.
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