Everyone has the power to help young people succeed. The secret to helping children and youth grow into happy, healthy, and responsible adults isn’t really a secret at all.
Research from Search Institute identifies 40 Developmental Assets that have a powerful, positive impact on young people. Children and teenagers who have high levels of these assets get involved in fewer risky behaviors and are much more likely to exhibit the positive values, such as leadership, good health, diversity, and success in school.
Prevention, which focuses on protective factors that inhibit high-risk behaviors such as substance abuse, violence, sexual intercourse, and dropping out of school.
Resiliency, which identifies factors that increase young people’s ability to rebound in the face of adversity, from poverty to drug-abusing parents to dangerous neighborhoods.
Understanding Developmental Assets
The 40 assets are divided into eight asset categories, which Search Institute has found crucial in helping young people grow up healthy. Half of the assets focus on the relationships and opportunities they need in their families, schools, and communities (external assets).
- Support: Young people need to be surrounded by people who love, care for, appreciate, and accept them.
- Empowerment: Young people need to feel valued and valuable. This happens when youth feel safe and respected.
- Boundaries and Expectations: Young people need clear rules, consistent consequences for breaking rules, and encouragement to do their best.
- Constructive Use of Time: Young people need opportunities—outside of school—to learn and develop new skills and interests with other youth and adults.
The remaining assets focus on the social-emotional strengths, values, and commitments that are nurtured within young people (internal assets).
- Commitment to Learning: Young people need a sense of the lasting importance of learning and a belief in their own abilities.
- Positive Values: Young people need to develop strong guiding values to help them make healthy life choices.
- Social Competencies: Young people need the skills to interact effectively with others, to make difficult decisions, and to cope with new situations.
- Positive Identity: Young people need to believe in their own self-worth and to feel they have control over the things that happen to them.
Each of these categories involves several specific assets that help young people grow up healthy. The more of these building blocks our youth have the more successful they will become. There is no magical number that will determine their success.
What we need to focus on as adults is how we can continue to add to these building blocks. We also need to understand the views and perceptions of our young people and ask ourselves, why do they feel this way?
Want to know more about the 40 Developmental Assets and ideas for helping young people build them? Visit
www.search-institute.org.
Kelli Rumpza, Certified Prevention Specialist
Human Service Agency