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Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School (L-S) students are sleeping more, and they reach for their phones less. But they drink a lot more than students in the towns around them.
That was the story of the 2025 MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey, presented to the L-S School Committee on November 4.
Students took the survey in November 2025. There were 1,219 responses. Across 26 MetroWest districts, 21,269 high schoolers answered the same questions.
In 2023, two-thirds of students checked their phones several times an hour during school. In 2025 it was one quarter. The school’s new phone rules began that fall.
Thirty-five percent of students now sleep eight hours on a school night. In 2018 it was 25 percent. The school moved its start time to 8:30 in 2021, though it was just by a few minutes. Sleep was nonetheless one of the brighter spots in the survey results.
Fewer students called their lives very stressful. It was 31 percent, down from 41 in 2018. However, eleven percent said they had seriously considered suicide in the past year. In 2021 it was 17 percent. Four percent of students reported attempting suicide, equating to approximately 46 attempts.
Thirty-seven percent of LS students said they drank in the past month. Across MetroWest it was 18 percent.
In 2014 the two were nearly even, 34 and 33. The region’s number fell, while the L-S number declined slightly then surged back above the 2014 levels in 2025. Freshmen at LS binge drank no more than freshmen elsewhere. By senior year it was 37 percent at LS and 18 percent in the region. Athletes drank more. Forty percent of students on a team drank in the past month. Of those not on a team, 27 percent did. But the athletes reported less depression, less anxiety and less self-injury.
During discussion, Committee Member Jason McLure noted on the alcohol use “Something changed over those 10 or 11 years that didn’t happen elsewhere in MetroWest. Something in our culture, in our student culture, among the adults, among the athletes that’s really made us an outlier here.”
McLure went on to conclude “This is really one of the more shocking statistics I’ve seen about L-S.” (2:30:55 below)
Past-month marijuana use was 17 percent at LS and 8 percent regionally. Vaping was 13 percent and 7. Cigarette use was 7 percent, up from 3 in 2018.
School itself weighed on the students. Seventy-two percent of L-S students said they often worried about school, against 58 percent in the region. Among girls it was 83 percent.
Students were asked why they might not see a school counselor. Half said they had no time or would not miss class. Forty-four percent did not want other students to know. Both were higher than in the region. Sixteen percent had turned to artificial intelligence for help with their troubles. Most had someone to turn to. Eighty-three percent said there was at least one adult at school they could talk to.
One in five LS students said they were LGBTQ+ or questioning. Forty percent said they had hurt themselves in the past year. Among heterosexual and cisgender students it was 9 percent. Thirty-eight percent reported symptoms of depression, compared to 17 percent of their classmates. More than a third had been bullied. Seven percent had attempted suicide, more than twice the rate of their peers. Sixty percent felt they were part of the school. For the rest it was 73.
The committee discussion focused heavily on the alcohol use data. Member Maura Carty called for a comparison to peer districts that have been identified by the committee, to see if there was something different in that comparison than the comparison to all of MetroWest.
SPS staff explained that they are taking immediate action. That will include the reinstatement of athletics department educational programming on substance abuse and a renewed effort to engage families in events, programming and conversations about the issue. Staff noted that parents events on these issues that used to draw 30 or more parents are now drawing just a couple. They called for more collaboration with the community.
In a bit of good news, staff reported their efforts will be funded by a grant the district received from the same organization, the MetroWest Health Foundation, that facilitates the survey. The full presentation is embedded below.
If you or someone you know is struggling, dial or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (available 24/7 in the US.