Social media use, vaping, alcohol use and prescription drug misuse all declined among North Carolina high school students last year, though most still are not getting enough sleep, according to a new survey.
Students also reported better mental health and fewer suicidal thoughts.
Leaders with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction presented the latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey results Wednesday to the State Board of Education. The findings suggest the state’s high school students are feeling better about themselves and engaging in fewer risky behaviors.
The anonymous survey is conducted every other year. In 2025, it was administered to a random sample of middle and high school students in districts that allowed access. Students were not required to participate.
The state had only high school data ready to present Wednesday, so officials compared the findings with historical data for high school students.
“A lot of these numbers are down to pre-pandemic levels,” said Ellen Essick, DPI’s head of healthy schools and specialized instructional support.
A confluence of factors is likely behind the improvements, Essick said. That could be time since the pandemic, but she noted that schools have also ramped up services to help struggling students, like offering telehealth or other mental health services on their campuses. Those services are often free.
“I think that’s a big testament to a lot of that work,” Essick said of the results.
Still, Essick and State Board of Education members said the data shows more work remains.
One major sign of progress: 29.7% of high school students said they had felt so sad or hopeless during the previous year that they stopped doing their usual activities.
That was down from 39.1% in 2023.
The figure, however, remains several percentage points higher than levels that were more typical 10 to 20 years ago.
Applied statewide, the survey percentage would represent more than 100,000 North Carolina high school students who still feel that way.
State Board of Education member Jill Camnitz said the figure was “heartbreaking.”
“I agree we’ve got so much more work to do,” she said.
Continued improvement, continued work
Eleven percent or fewer of North Carolina high school students reported suicidal thoughts or behaviors, including considering or attempting suicide. The survey also measured nonsuicidal self-harm.
About one in five students reported experiencing poor mental health most of the time, down from about one in three in 2023.
The survey showed 20-year lows in alcohol, cigarette and marijuana use. The marijuana question included other products containing THC, not only marijuana cigarettes.
Vaping declined to about 13%, from 21%, while illicit prescription drug use fell to about 10%, from roughly 15%.
Social media use also declined slightly. More students said they no longer used social media daily, and fewer said they used it several times a day.
About three-quarters of high school students said they used social media several times a day or more, down from about four-fifths.
What the state is doing to improve student mental health
The data matters to schools for several reasons.
Students reported feeling more connected to school staff and safer at school, including during their commute. Those feelings can make students more likely to attend school.
Fewer high school students said they carried a weapon at school — 1%, down from 3% — and fewer reported being involved in physical fights at school.
Students who reported better mental health also reported earning higher grades.
DPI wants to expand its work with schools in those areas.
Officials are examining schools and community groups that have successfully helped children and want to share those approaches with other schools. They also are considering expanding mental health first aid, increasing physical activity and reducing social media and cellphone use.
Just 43% of high school students said they were physically active for at least 60 minutes on five or more days each week.
Students still are not getting enough sleep
One statistic that did not improve was sleep.
Just one in five high school students said they got eight or more hours of sleep each night.
“It’s still an issue. We need our students to get sleep,” Essick told the board.
After the meeting, Essick said school start times can contribute to the problem.
Some state leaders are examining ways to help students get more sleep.
Over the past decade, some North Carolina school districts, including Durham Public Schools, have moved high school start times later to give students more time to sleep.
In Wake County, leaders have surveyed families and consulted researchers for years. They concluded that students would likely get more sleep if high schools started later than the current 7:25 a.m. bell.
District leaders, however, have not changed those times, in part because of logistical challenges and a shortage of bus drivers.
Previous data, including middle school students
The 2023 survey showed improvement from pandemic-era increases in poor mental health.
Still, teenagers were doing worse than they had a decade earlier. Youth mental health has been in gradual decline for nearly 20 years.
In 2023, four in 10 students said they had felt so sad or hopeless at some point during the previous year that they stopped doing their usual activities, which can indicate a depressive episode.
About one in three high school students said they had felt lonely that year, while slightly more than half said they felt good about themselves.
Most students were not exercising daily or getting eight hours of sleep, and even fewer were eating breakfast every day.
State education officials have linked unhealthy lifestyles with feelings of sadness and lower grades. They have worked with schools to provide students with more opportunities for physical activity during the school day.