Greenwich Together 2025 Youth Survey Identifies Gambling as Rising Risky Behavior

On Monday the Greenwich Together data committee presented results of the 2025 youth survey to a gathering of about 40 people at town hall. The survey is offered to seventh through twelfth graders in Greenwich public and private schools, as well as parents. It was conducted in February.

At the May 12, 2025 Greenwich Together meeting, Chief of Police Jim Heavey, Corina Restrepo, Demetria Nelson and Nina Chanana. Photo: Sydney Floch

The results yielded insights into substance use and mental health trends, and both risk and protective factors. The idea is to use the data to better support youth.

Corina Restrepo, Assistant Director of Outreach and Prevention Coordinator for Greenwich Together, talked about the methodology and results.

Nina Chanana, Principal of Chanana Consulting, said there were 3,197 responses after eliminating surveys with missing answers or long patterns of responses, rather than thoughtful answers, resulting in an overall response rate for seventh through twelfth grades of 58%.

This year, 223 parents/guardians answered the survey.

The survey was administered by Greenwich Together, an organization founded in 2017 that partners with over 40 groups in town, including local media, to prevent substance misuse and promote behavioral and mental health. Its data committee worked with a youth coalition to develop the 2025 Youth and Parent Survey. Kids in Crisis serves as the fiduciary for Greenwich Together.

The survey is funded through a Drug Free Communities grant.

The 2025 survey was the first to contain questions about cell phone usage.

Other questions pertained to use of substances such as alcohol, nicotine, marijuana and prescription pills, as well as stressors and ways to find help.

Ms Chanana said that schools had requested that cell phone questions be included to help inform possible changes their policies.

Last fall Greenwich Public Schools announced a new policy including “All Day Away” in grades 9-12 after many families had expressed concerns about the effects of early and excessive cellphone and social media usage, and a movement called “Ok to Delay” established a chapter in Greenwich for  parents concerned about the effects of social media and smartphones on children.

Risky Behaviors

Chanana first introduced the survey results of students’ protective factors – conditions that may decrease the likelihood of a student engaging in risky behavior.

• 86% of respondents reported that they have a  connection to a trusted adult.

• In 2021, 68% of students said they had that connection.

Chanana said that overall, healthy behaviors and coping mechanisms had increased over the years, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 89% respondents said they felt in control of their lives, 73% know where to get help if they’re struggling with their mental health or substance misuse, and 83% said their peers cared about them.

Gambling

While risk factors have also decreased, but Chanana shared a new spike in one particular risk factor amongst students: Gambling.

• 20% of teenagers reported that they participate in gambling, up from 14% in the 2023 survey.

In Connecticut, 21 is the legal age for casino and online gambling, but the age for some forms of gambling is 18, including lottery tickets, Keno, and fantasy contests.

Alcohol and Nicotine

While the survey was conducted, 20% of respondents said they drank alcohol and 3% said they used a product containing nicotine within the past 30 days. Chanana said that while those percentages were still high, the numbers were vastly different from a survey in 2018, which found that 44% of respondents drank alcohol and 22% used a nicotine-containing product within that same 30-day period.

In twelfth grade, 40% of students said that they drank alcohol within the last 30 days. The top three places that 859 students reported they drank alcohol were at a party, with friends at their home or in their own home, or at home with a parent present.

• 54% of students said that alcohol was very easy to obtain.

Chanana said a family’s rules made a difference, and that teens were nine times more likely to drink on the weekends if they didn’t believe that their parents disapproved of them drinking.

She said nine out of 10 adults with a substance abuse disorder began using before the age of 18, and fewer alcohol-related problems developed for every year drinking was delayed.

Chanana also reminded the Greenwich Together group that underage drinking can change the structure and function of a developing teenage brain, and it is illegal.

She said that modeling appropriate behavior and sharing explicit rules discouraging these risk factors can decrease the activity.

Cell Phone Use

Less than half of survey respondents said that their phone usage was “about right,” whereas 50% said they felt it was too much.

• 31% of the respondents said their phone reduced their nightly sleep.

• 23% said their phone use had a positive impact on their mental health.

• 66% said that they felt more productive when they limited their phone use.

• 74% said that they tried to limit their phone use in the past year.

Mental Health

The mental health portion of the survey was not answered by all students.

• 493 respondents said they felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two or more weeks in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities.

• 625 respondents said they felt so so anxious almost every day for two or more weeks in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities.

The top stressors reported for seventh and eighth graders were 42% academics, 28% the future and 25% sports achievements.

For high school students, 52% said they were stressed about academics.

Chanana said this question has remained the highest percentage since the question has been included in the survey, but rates were decreasing. The second highest was 43% of students concerned about future expectations, 35% college and post high school plans.

There was no change in sports achievements, with 27% of students marking that as a stressor.

Irregular Eating Habits

Survey results indicated female students showed higher levels of irregular eating habits such as binge eating, purging or restricting eating.

They also reported higher persistent rates of anxiety, depression and experiencing bullying. These students also experienced more positive and negative consequences of social media.

• 20% of female students report that they had engaged in irregular eating behaviors (1 in 5).

Chanana said that while male students reported higher levels of self-image and connectedness to adults and peers, they also reported higher rates of bullying of another student, gambling, more positive and negative consequences of gaming and not knowing when to seek help.

This month, Greenwich Together is looking to address the issues revealed in the survey. Greenwich High School will be hosting, “Reclaim Your Focus, Energy and Breath,” a confidential group for students who are looking to quit or cut down their nicotine intake. They will meet in room 615 at GHS from 10:30-11:25 am for the remainder of the school year.

Greenwich Together is also hosting an event to encourage participation in focus groups for high school students, which will be in room 500 at Greenwich High School on May 27 at 3:00pm. Gift cards are available for participants.