FORSYTH COUNTY — Local education data collectors want to know everyone’s perceptions on underage drinking in Forsyth County to help adjust their baseline data.

Forsyth County Schools received an underage drinking prevention grant, which included funding for educating the community on the issue through its “I Have a Choice” initiative, according to Lindsey Simpson, prevention specialist for the district.

Last year was the first for which data was collected, so that will be used as a baseline to compare this and future years.

“This is the first year we’ll have good data,” Simpson said. “Last year, we got around 681 responses, and now we want more than 1,000 to really be able to understand the perceptions in the county.”

An online anonymous survey is open on the school district’s website through Friday.

The questions prompt “personal but important” responses so the Forsyth County Schools Alcohol Prevention Project can better understand the community’s attitudes toward teenage drinking, Simpson said.

“It can be anyone who takes it,” she said. “We want all different representatives from the community. You don’t have to have kids. They can go to public school or private school. You can be a grandparent. Anyone.”

An outside evaluator will assess the data this summer so the campaign can be tweaked next school year.

“We want to focus on perceptions and how to make them more positive,” Simpson said. “A lot less kids are drinking than the larger community may think.”