whataboutme.nz is a nationwide survey of young people in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The survey is being done to tell the Government, other agencies and researchers what it is like to be a young person in Aotearoa. Things like where they live, what they experience and what is important to them.
We are hearing from 14,000 young people throughout the country about health and wellbeing. We are including young people who are in school and kura kaupapa and those who are not.
Young people in school/kura/alternative education and their parents/carers who are sampled to be in the survey are sent an information sheet about the study. We want whānau, aiga and families to discuss this survey together! If parents/carers don’t want their young person to take part, or if young people themselves decide not to take part, they can opt-out of the survey. They can also skip questions and stop answering anytime.
Young people at Youth One Stop Shops and other participating health and social sector organisations are given an information sheet about the survey and they can choose whether to take part.
The survey is filled in online, using tablets that we provide. It is available in te reo Māori and English written and audio versions, and in New Zealand sign language.
What are the questions about? The survey asks young people questions about:
At the end of the survey, young people will have a chance to tell us about one thing they think would help to have a good life now and in the future.
The survey takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to complete. No names will be used.
We are researchers from Malatest International. You can find out more about us here www.malatest-intl.com. The Ministry of Social Development has asked us to carry out a survey of young people's health and wellbeing across the whole country. You can find out more about MSD here www.msd.govt.nz.
Early next year we will be visiting places where young people are. We are working with these places to set up ways of filling in the survey.
We visit each school, kura or alternative education provider randomly selected as part of our sample. A class of students from each year is invited to take part in the survey. Our research team are there when young people fill in the survey. We will give each person a tablet to complete the survey online and we will collect the tablets at the end of the class.
We want to express our thanks to all the people who are making this survey happen. There are hundreds of people along the way helping us to design the survey, test it, engage with and support young people.
Ngā manaakitanga
Schools, kura, alternative education providers and Youth One Stop Shops only know if young people have been invited to take part in the survey. They do not know what answers young people give in the survey. No names are collected with survey responses. Nobody, including schools, education providers, or Youth One Stop Shops know what young people say in their answers.
And remember, young people can stop doing the survey at any time and do a different activity on the tablet. Nobody knows if they do this.
Information young people give us in the survey is used in research and to write reports. Summary reports and tables (that do not indentify individuals) will be available online and sent to schools and other places that help with the survey. None of the reports or tables will ever identify any person who has taken part in the survey.
Information will be stored securely and used to compare findings with later surveys. It will be held at Statistics New Zealand or a similar safe place and will be available to academics, government agencies and others to inform their work with young people.
When we ask young people to complete the survey, we bring support information for young people in case anyone feels worried or anxious from the survey questions. We talk with young people about the services and encourage them to make contact if they want to talk with someone.
Youthline are advised of the days we are visiting different places to do the survey, so they will know to expect calls or messages from students who might have questions or worries. We also ensure that teachers, counsellors and other support agencies in each region know about the survey.
Young people have the option of asking for help by completing an online form that is totally separate to their survey responses. We monitor these forms and a trained provider such as the school pastoral care advisor contacts young people who ask for help in this way.
We also strongly encourage young people to contact Youthline, their school counsellor, or one of the other support services in our list if completing this survey raises any issues.
You can find out more about organisations to support young people here.