Senate embraces mandate parents have to 'opt in' for children to take risk survey
A bill that would require parents to have to agree up front to allow their children to take the Youth Behavioral Risk Survey cleared its final hurdle in the state Senate Thursday.
Senate passes bill to make parents gatekeepers of risk behavior survey
State Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester and standing, speaks to try and convince the State Senate to pass legislation so parents have to give permission in advance for their children to take a state risk behavior survey.
Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, led the effort to convince the Senate to overturn its Senate Education Committee, which had recommended killing the bill (HB 446) by a 3-2 margin.
Instead, the Senate passed it on a party line 16-8 vote with all Republicans in support and all Democrats opposed to it.
'This isn't counselling. We are asking very intimate questions of students and there is no help for them if they are facing these issues,' Sullivan said.
'These surveys are not safe for children.'
This is the only non-academic survey given in which children take it unless the parents affirmatively opt out.
Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka said the change could lower the participation rate of the survey below 60%, which would make it no longer valid for use by state agencies and non-profit groups that use results in applications for federal and private grants.
'Thanks to the data these surveys provide, we have made great progress on substance misuse and mental health by identifying the problem and creating tailored solutions — all while still empowering parents with the ability to opt out, and their child with the ability to skip questions,' Perkins Kwoka said.
'The data is anonymous, accurate, and absolutely crucial to ensuring our kids have the best shot at a successful future. These problems don't magically go away if we don't ask about them — it's time we reinforce our prevention efforts, not abandon them.'
Sullivan: 'It is not anonymous'
Sullivan disagreed with that final point, noting the survey begins with a series of specific personal questions that make it easy for educators or others to identify who has taken it.
'It is not anonymous,' Sullivan said.
Jenny O'Higgins, with the Department of Health and Human Services, said during a recent hearing the current rate of students who take the test '(hovers) between 62% and 65%.'
O'Higgins said the state receives $60 million in grants to address concerns identified in the survey such as unprotected sex, alcohol or drug misuse, mental health behaviors along with thoughts about suicide.
Critics also maintain the survey has become a source for fundraising by non-profit groups.
'This is akin to using students as focus groups in a forced environment,' said Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton.
Currently, state law requires schools to make the surveys available to parents at least 10 days before being administered.
The bill would add that parents receive a personal email along with changing to an opt-out process.
Sen. Suzanne Prentiss, D-Lebanon, sponsored an amendment to require the email notice, but to retain the opt-in provision.
The Senate rejected it by the same 16-8 vote.
'Unfortunately, my colleagues voted against our police, schools and providers who rely on this data to care for and protect our children,' Prentiss said.
What's Next: This House-passed bill heads to the desk of Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
Prospects: The governor has raised no public concerns about it and appears in keeping with her call to advance legislation that enhances parental rights in education.
klandrigan@unionleader.com
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