The biennial Illinois Youth Survey is set to be administered in early 2024.

Tony Kirkman at the Piatt County Mental Health Center indicates this is an every-other-year assessment of Illinois youth asking questions about things like substance use, mental health, and emotional health.

According to Kirkman, once the students have taken the survey, the data is compiled into a school district-specific report and then a statewide report, and the trends are broken down after that.

For Kirkman, the trend of teen mental health trends are concerning and continue to show a growing sense of loneliness.

Kirkman points out he has not seen a single positive influence that social media has had on the minds of our youth. He believes social media has made teens aware of things good and bad, at an all-time high - something he says is not a good thing.