Highlights from the 2005/2006 results

What kids said in the last survey

Communicating with friends

It appears that kids are chatting more on the Internet than in person. When asked which method they used most often to communicate with friends, secondary students answering the survey were more likely to use Internet chat or MSN (36%) than to talk in person (32%), use a conventional telephone (18%) or use a cell phone (7%).

Means of communication	Girls	Boys	All students
Which method do you use most often to communicate with friends?
Means of communication	%
Internet chat or MSN	36.91	35.74	36.32
In person	30.66	33.58	32.13
Telephone (landline)	19.72	15.64	17.67
Cell phone	7.19	7.77	7.48
Text messaging	2.21	2.62	2.42
E-mail	2.05	1.94	1.99
Other	1.26	2.72	1.99
Notes: Secondary students only. Means of communication appear in order of frequency for all students. Source: Census at School – Canada, 2005/2006.

Kids in British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan were the only ones more likely to talk to friends in person than on Internet chat or MSN. New Brunswick students were the most likely to chat on the Internet (43%), while those in British Columbia were the least likely to do so (22%). However, British Columbia students reported the highest rate of cell phone use (12%, compared with 7% nationally). Kids in Nova Scotia and Quebec used the conventional telephone the most.

Province	Method of communication
Which method do you most often use to communicate with friends?
	Internet chat or MSN	In person	Telephone (landline)	Cell phone	Other¹
	%
N.L.	38.46	36.54	17.31	1.92	5.77
P.E.I.	41.00	28.45	17.57	5.02	7.95
N.S.	35.52	27.08	25.94	5.54	5.93
N.B.	43.14	27.45	21.57	5.88	1.96
Que.	33.48	29.65	24.15	6.07	6.65
Ont.	38.40	36.60	12.00	6.40	6.60
Man.	30.99	38.73	14.79	7.75	7.75
Sask.	33.14	36.09	17.16	8.28	5.32
Alta.	38.11	33.71	13.18	8.93	6.08
B.C.	22.31	30.58	21.49	12.4	13.23
Note: Secondary students only. There were too few participants in the territories to publish any figures.
1. Includes text messaging and e-mail.
Source: Census at School – Canada, 2005/2006.

Allergies

About a third of elementary students across Canada said they had allergies. The percentage of girls with allergies was slightly higher than that of boys with allergies.

	%
Do you have allergies?
	Girls	Boys
No	65.35	68.41
Yes	34.65	31.59
Note: Elementary students only. Source: Census at School – Canada, 2005/2006.

Compared with the national average, British Columbia and New Brunswick had a higher percentage of kids with allergies, while the Prairies had a lower percentage.

Province	Girls	Boys	All students
Do you have allergies?
Province	% who answered ‘yes’
N.L.	38.42	31.03	34.61
P.E.I.	29.23	22.22	26.73
N.S.	36.73	33.33	34.95
N.B.	46.07	39.59	42.76
Que.	35.26	31.43	33.45
Ont.	33.19	30.98	32.09
Man.	31.72	26.84	29.25
Sask.	32.97	30.94	31.96
Alta.	34.52	28.04	31.23
B.C.	39.72	36.64	38.18
Note: Elementary students only. There were too few participants in the territories to publish any figures. Source: Census at School – Canada, 2005/2006.

Favorite charity

If they had $1,000 to donate, students responding to the survey would most likely give it to a health organization (32%). Animal welfare and wildlife charities, followed by international aid organizations, were the next most popular choices.

Charity type	Elementary		Secondary		All students
If you had $1,000 to donate to charity, what type of organisation would you choose?
	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	All students
	%
Health	32.98	29.55	38.71	29.96	31.87
Wildlife, animals	23.85	14.30	13.03	9.11	17.49
International aid	18.41	13.87	23.28	14.67	16.70
Arts, culture, sports	8.64	17.80	7.41	17.13	13.03
Environment	4.91	6.21	5.17	7.49	5.72
Education / youth development	2.79	3.63	4.13	3.71	3.35
Religious	2.21	3.60	3.06	4.21	3.05
Other	6.21	11.03	5.21	13.70	8.79
Note: Charity types appear in order of frequency for all students. Source: Census at School – Canada, 2005/200

Most important issue

Health was chosen as the most important issue facing young people today by 37% of high school student respondents-more than twice the percentage of students who chose unemployment (15%) or the environment (14%).

Issue	Girls	Boys	All students
What is the most important issue facing young Canadians today?
Issue	%
Health	40.98	32.65	36.79
Unemployment	13.53	15.70	14.62
Environment	13.91	14.17	14.04
Economy	8.99	12.02	10.51
Migration/immigration	1.70	4.99	3.36
Other	20.88	20.47	20.68
Notes: Secondary students only. Social issues appear in order of importance for all students. Source: Census at School – Canada, 2005/2006

Time use

At the elementary level, girls reported spending twice as much time as boys talking to friends.

Physical activity	Girls	Boys	All students
What is your favourite physical activity?
Physical activity	%
Hockey	4.34	22.27	13.29
Soccer	12.41	12.38	12.40
Basketball	9.23	13.46	11.34
Swimming	15.83	5.66	10.76
Dance or drama	12.31	0.77	6.55
Volleyball	6.51	1.28	3.90
Cycling	2.39	5.03	3.71
Football	1.17	5.61	3.38
Snowboarding	2.20	4.35	3.27
Skiing	3.27	3.02	3.15
Badminton	3.85	2.11	2.99
Ice skating	4.88	0.90	2.90
Baseball	2.18	3.29	2.74
Karate or other martial art	1.51	2.87	2.18
Running or jogging	2.43	1.92	2.18
Skateboarding	0.94	3.41	2.17
Tennis	2.29	1.59	1.94
Hiking or walking	1.90	1.12	1.51
Fencing	0.20	0.51	0.36
Rugby	0.27	0.44	0.35
Inline skating	0.44	0.24	0.34
None	0.80	1.20	1.00
Other	8.64	6.57	7.61
Notes: Elementary students only. Physical activities appear in order of frequency for all students. Source: Census at School – Canada, 2005/2006.

Secondary students said they spent more time hanging out with friends (median of 10 hours) than on any other activity. The next two most time-consuming activities were watching TV, videos or movies, and playing or listening to music. Girls reported spending twice as much time as boys on homework. On the other hand, boys spent twice as much time as girls playing video games and participating in sports.

Activity	Girls	Boys
Median number of hours per week spent doing certain activities
Activity	hours
Video games	2	4
Reading	1	1
Watching TV, videos or movies	6	7
Playing or listening to music	7	6
Playing board or card games	0	0
Doing homework	4	2
Doing jobs at home	2	2
Working for pay outside the home	1	1
Doing community volunteer work	0	0
Participating in sports	2	4
Hanging out with friends	10	10
Note: Secondary students only. Source: Census at School – Canada, 2005/2006.

Favourite physical activities

For elementary kids, the top favourite activities were hockey, soccer, basketball and swimming. But the order differed between girls and boys. While hockey was the favourite activity for 22% of boys, it was chosen by only 4% of girls. Swimming was the girls’ top activity (16%), followed by soccer, then dance or drama. For boys, the next favourite activities after hockey were basketball and soccer.

Physical activity	Girls	Boys	All students
What is your favourite physical activity?
Physical activity	%
Hockey	4.34	22.27	13.29
Soccer	12.41	12.38	12.40
Basketball	9.23	13.46	11.34
Swimming	15.83	5.66	10.76
Dance or drama	12.31	0.77	6.55
Volleyball	6.51	1.28	3.90
Cycling	2.39	5.03	3.71
Football	1.17	5.61	3.38
Snowboarding	2.20	4.35	3.27
Skiing	3.27	3.02	3.15
Badminton	3.85	2.11	2.99
Ice skating	4.88	0.90	2.90
Baseball	2.18	3.29	2.74
Karate or other martial art	1.51	2.87	2.18
Running or jogging	2.43	1.92	2.18
Skateboarding	0.94	3.41	2.17
Tennis	2.29	1.59	1.94
Hiking or walking	1.90	1.12	1.51
Fencing	0.20	0.51	0.36
Rugby	0.27	0.44	0.35
Inline skating	0.44	0.24	0.34
None	0.80	1.20	1.00
Other	8.64	6.57	7.61
Notes: Elementary students only. Physical activities appear in order of frequency for all students. Source: Census at School – Canada, 2005/2006.

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