TORONTO -- The emotional and physical health of students at Canada's largest school board has declined over the last five years, new data released by the organization indicated Tuesday, prompting a commitment to address the issue.
The findings from the Toronto District School Board came from a census conducted in 2017 that surveyed more than 130,000 students on a range of issues.
"Many more middle and high school students compared to the last census felt nervous and under a lot of stress and pressure often or all the time, and had multiple worries especially about their physical and mental health, their own future and their school marks," the board's report on the census said.
"This data shows a lot of great detail about how students and parents feel but it also shows some urgent areas for change that cannot be ignored."
The proportion of students in Grade 12 who reported having a high or middle emotional well-being level declined from 69 per cent in 2012 to 60 per cent last year, the census showed. For Grade 7 students, that decreased from 87 per cent to 80 per cent.
TDSB director John Malloy noted that some of this year's results were worse than those in the last census.
"Where we need to focus is on helping our students develop healthy relationships, to share their experience, to trust," said TDSB director John Malloy. "We have to do something about it."
The TDSB also said it would be incorporating emphasis on well-being into all learning opportunities, and would be conducting further focus groups to better understand some of the data
The census also found that students reported spending more time on social media as they get older, with girls in Grades 9 to 12 saying they use online platforms more than boys their age: 38 per cent of girls in that age bracket said they used social media "almost constantly," compared to 26 per cent of boys.
Students were also less physically active than five years ago, and got less active with age, according to the report.
The amount of time kids spend using screens -- including the sharp increase in social media -- is also counted as a point against their physical health, though Malloy noted it could also be linked to emotional well-being.
"We are hearing that because screen time is increasing, and students are making choices sometimes to stay with their screens and not to relate to people -- peers and adults -- that could be a major factor," he said, adding that the board will try to teach students to be "healthy" with their social media rather than banning it outright.
Rebecca Trinh, a Grade 12 student at Jarvis Collegiate Institute in downtown Toronto, said social media can undoubtedly have a negative effect.
"We basically want to show a perfect picture of us," she said. "There's models, with clear skin and perfect hair and everything, and I guess that's what we're trying to do. It puts the pressure on us to look good every day."
Karim Ouazzani Touhami, also a 17-year-old senior at Jarvis Collegiate Institute, said social media used in the right way can be helpful.
"You can use it for communication, for networking," he said. "We have to understand that it's a digital world and social media is here to stay."
The issue, he suggested, is that some students are on social media so frequently that its use become stressful.
"The increase in stress and anxiety is a huge issue that we don't talk about enough," he said.
