Child Wellbeing Survey

We at CMS consider that students’ sense of well being greatly contributes to academic excellence; children are able to bring out their full potential only when they are happy and healthy in life. Hence, the CMS Child Wellbeing Department has developed a multi-dimensional Child Wellbeing Survey in 2018 for students of Classes 7th to 12th. The survey aims at exploring the quality of children’s lives and their sense of wellbeing, and to identify the barriers to wellbeing. Wellbeing goes beyond the mere the absence of illness: life satisfaction, physical health, healthy behaviour, positive self esteem, and resilience together create a sense of wellbeing. For this reason, the survey has questions related to different domains including general health status, lifestyle, participation in physical activities, participation in JYEP/Community Service, use of social media or information technology, and facilities provided in school and at home.

• The survey is conducted once in every academic session. It is then analysed extensively by experts, considering various factors. The survey is reviewed the by Child Wellbeing team each year and improved upon if needed.
• For the counsellors, the survey has been highly instrumental in providing an understanding of those intangible aspects of a student’s life that contribute to their wellbeing - including, amongst many other things, how one feels about him/herself; attitude towards girls; attitudes about household work and gender roles; what students worry about; how often do they lose their temper; etc.
• Children’s development is also affected by their parents’ resources, health, geographical environment, housing conditions, social network, and interaction with peers. The data from the survey has drawn our attention to issues that have otherwise been unnoticed, like what percentage of students staying with both parents versus a single parent feel bad about themselves, what percentage of girls versus boys feel good about themselves, whether students feel good or bad about themselves by family type, what percentage of students participate in physical activity, percentage of students who worry about their future/health/parents, what proportion have frequent headaches or stomach aches, etc.
• This comprehensive survey has helped counsellors to identify the risk factors like bullying, or the percentage of students who become restless, and to set concrete age-wise goals/targets accordingly.
• The survey has stimulating questions about the lifestyle, eating habits, behaviour of students which can help them reflect on their life and make healthy changes.
• The survey asks questions based on physical education periods, opportunities for outdoor activities, participation in co-curricular activities, etc., which has helped make the school environment more positive for students.