Every school has to know at least a little bit about the students it is teaching, and every school has to provide at least something of value to its students.

But there’s a flipside—in pursuit of these goals, schools should not pry into areas of family life beyond their proper purview. While every family will have slightly different standards about what is appropriate for schools to inquire about or provide for their kids, I think that concerned parents and observers of the education system may soon sound the alarm that schools are becoming too intrusive.

In mid-January, the pro-parental-rights organization Awake Illinois live-streamed a session on a development in Illinois public education that could cause parents some concern about how overbearing schools could become.

The new Illinois Youth Survey is sponsored by the University of Illinois as a tool for investigating drug use, bullying, and health trends among students. While at a quick glance it might look relatively harmless, some of the actual survey questions tend to exude perverse gender ideology or migrate into sensitive topics. Here are a few of the most eyebrow-raising questions that 8th-graders would be expected to answer:

• “What sexual orientation do you most identify with?” (Answers include “Asexual,” “Bisexual,” “Gay,” “Heterosexual or straight,” “Lesbian,” “Prefer not to answer,” “Pansexual,” “Queer,” “Questioning,” “Other,” or “I don’t know what this question is asking.”) [p. 1 of the 8th-grade survey]

• “How wrong do your parents feel it would be for you to drink beer, wine, or hard liquor (e.g., vodka, whiskey, or gin) regularly (at least once or twice a month)? have one or two drinks of an alcoholic beverage nearly every day? use e-cigarettes or other vaping products? smoke tobacco? use marijuana? use prescription drugs not prescribed to you? (Answers include: “Very wrong,” “Wrong,” “A little bit wrong,” or “Not wrong at all.”) [p. 3]

• “In the past year, on how many occasions (if any) have you sniffed glue, breathed the contents of an aerosol spray can, or inhaled other gases or sprays in order to get high?” (Answers indicate a range of occasions, from “0” to “20 or more.”) [p. 6]

• [Respond to this statement:] “My parents/guardians ask if I’ve gotten my homework done.” (Answers include “Never,” “Sometimes,” “Most of the time,” or “Always.”) [p. 8]

The high school version of the survey is very similar, but broaches a couple more sensitive or private topics, with questions such as: 

• “During the past 12 months, did you ever seriously consider attempting suicide?” (Answers include: “Yes” or “No.”) [p. 10 of the high school survey]

• “In the past 12 months, has someone put you down or tried to control you in a dating relationship?” (Answers include: “I have not begun to date,” “No,” “Yes,” or “Not sure.”) [p. 10]

 However, one of the most eyebrow-raising questions of all was this one (included on both surveys): 

• “Is there an adult you know (other than your parent) you could talk to about important things in your life?” (Answers include: “No,” “Yes, one adult,” or “Yes, more than one adult.”) [p. 4, bolds added].

What kind of a question is that? The very fact that the survey asks this question communicates a message about how important parents really are, and one that doesn’t sit well with me.

Even though some parents might be fine with having their kids answer these questions and submit their answers to be analyzed by strangers, I think many will not.

The personal nature of these questions will make many students (and their parents) uncomfortable, and thankfully, there is an opt-out form. Any parent who would rather not have his or her child taking the survey should use this form to withdraw his or her child. 

However, as the Awake Illinois livestream pointed out—merely submitting a form does not mean that your child will necessarily be excused (logistical errors do happen). If you choose to exempt your child from the survey, make sure to follow up with your school when the survey is about to happen and ensure your child will indeed be excused.

To view and download the Parent notification letter, CLICK HERE.