Bored, stressed and alientated kids are more likely to drop out of school, says a one-of-a-kind research study spearheaded by SD 62 students.

Å group of 18 secondary and middle school students spent the past months interviewing 350 of their peers from Belmont, Dunsmuir, Spencer and Pacific Secondary to tease out what motivates youth to stay in school or to drop out.

University of Victoria professor Gord Miller, with the school of child and youth care, led the study, funded by the Victoria Foundation. It’s the first research project of its kind in Canada to have youth interview youth in a collaborative way, Miller said.

Student researchers were given extensive training in university-level research methodology and ethics to keep the project academically sound, he said.

“We found if it was peer to peer ... the information we end up getting is considerably richer,” he said. “The youth communicate better and give information that is more helpful on what they think is working or not working, and why.”

“Boredom” was cited by students as the top reason kids drop out, at 21 per cent. Substance abuse, stress, jobs and other interests and non-supportive relationships followed closely behind. Bullying, lack of motivation, school staff and dislike of school were cited the least.

Many students said high school can be overwhelming, that they have little connection to teachers or staff and their marks are poor. Workload, more interesting classes, help for potential dropouts and better relationships with adult mentors were cited as what is needed to create a “sense of belonging.”

“What it all adds up to is that students are really stressed,” Miller said. “If a student is stressed sooner or later they are going to hit a breaking point, throw their hands up and leave.”

Rachel Harle, a Belmont Grade 10 student and part of the research team, agreed having that supportive relationships with adults is a key motivator to stay in school. Many kids at Belmont said more counsellors are needed and that teachers often have too many students to manage one-on-one problems, she said.

“Smaller classes and more counsellors were big things,” Harle said.

Harle interviewed 15 fellow students, peers she calls “uniquers” – ones that she said were odd, interesting or stood out in some way. Giving kids a voice in the study motivated some to stay school another year, she said.

“At first people are reluctant to say anything. But when they see its youth to youth, they open up and tell everything,” Harle said. “What you see with kids is the tip of the iceberg. Jocks, popular cliques, pot heads all are connected. They all had things in common.”

SD 62 superintendent Jim Cambridge called the study a powerful tool for the district to help reduce dropout rates. Last year the district’s six-year graduation rate was 71 per cent, below the provincial average of 78 per cent.

“It helped confirm what we believed, that the primary reason kids stay in school is a connection with a significant adult,” Cambridge said. “In the absence of that, kids get disjointed.”

The interest and co-operation from SD 62 administration, staff, teacher and the wider community made the study a success and made it stand out, Miller said. District principle David Strange and Belmont counsellor Andy Robertson were credited as the driving forces behind launching the study in the Sooke School District.

“It’s a big undertaking. A lot of schools are apprehensive about finding time for research,” Miller said. “What is happening in this district is no different than others. There are lots of good people within the district and lots of good strengths.”

The groups supporting the study, including SD 62 trustees, administration, teachers, local politicians and the researchers plan to meet in September to work on next steps, such as strategies for stress reduction and dropout prevention.

“There is such a strong response, such strong buy-in and engagement,” Miller said. “People realize it’s not just an issue with in the school system, it’s an issue within the greater community.”

editor@goldstreamgazette.com