40 Developmental Assets WELCOME! Nicole

Small things you can do See young people as resources rather than problems Compliment children and youth when you see them doing good things Turn off the TV one night a week and bring out some board games! Try to have at least one meal together as a family every day. Make cooking a family event! Openly promote a policy of telling the truth in your family Be a model for positive conflict resolution. Learn how to settle your own disputes calmly and peacefully Look out for the children around you—report dangerous and inappropriate behaviours Compliment parents when you see their children doing good things

More Simple things Get to know your children’s friends and their friend’s parents Get to know your neighbours and encourage your children to do the same Volunteer with children and youth Make it clear that you value those around you for who they are and not how they look Ask a child or youth about their day and tell them about yours Recognize that children need more than just financial support

By the End of the Hour I Will Be Able to… Be familiar with the 8 Developmental Asset Categories Describe how assets empower ALL children and adolescents to create strong, productive, and happy lives Identify my role in nurturing these assets and uncover the many opportunities to do so Pinpoint easy and practical tasks to build assets in their homes, neighbourhoods, schools, and community Nicole

What helps youth to thrive? What are a few suggestions of things in our communities that help children and youth to thrive? Christine

Two Shifts First Shift Second Shift From fixing young people’s problems Promoting young people’s strengths Second Shift Beyond programs Relationships Nicole—History on where the assets were developed How does our society perceive teenagers? Often use more negative descriptions that positive—i.e. rebellious, irresponsible How do young people usually show up in the news? I.e. car accidents, voilence What are the relationships between young people and professionals such as counsellors, police officers, nurses, and school administrators usually like? Have their problems fixed. Society usually focuses on young people’s problems and on trying to fix those problems, or even to fix the young people themselves. Same goes for younger children who are having difficulties—they are often “fixed”. Young people have strengths too; we can’t ignore the problems that exist, but we want to focus on the strengths and build upon them.

The Two Types of Assets External assets refer to the positive developmental environments and experiences that surround young people. The main builders of these assets for young children are parents and other caregivers. As children grow older, especially through adolescence, external assets accumulate through interactions with parents, neighbors, educators, congregations, coworkers, and peers. Nicole Who is familiar with the 40 Developmental Assets Framework already? The Developmental Assets were created by the Search Institute which began their work with the assets in 1989. They asked the question “what are the factors that have an impact on healthy growth and development in young people” “why do some kids grow up with relative ease, while others struggle?” The initial work of the Search Institute measured the presence of the assets in youth from grades 6-12. This information is reflected in “The Asset Approach”. Since then, they have also looked at the assets for younger children. From this they identified 40 concrete, positive experiences and qualities that have a tremendous influence on young people from all walks of life. The development of external assets, which we can impact, often leads to the development of internal assets in children and youth. Many people find them to be consistent with both their experience and common sense.

External Assets Support Empowerment Boundaries and Expectations Constructive Use of Time Nicole See Asset Approach Note the percentages in the right-hand column and in addition to identifying the assets, Search Institute also developed a survey to measure the presence of each asset in the lives of youth based on their self-reporting Administered primarily through the public school systems it’s a 156 item Search Institute Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviours survey. It has been completed by more than 1 million youth. The percentages reflect the results of over 200 000 youth from 1999-2000

The Two Types of Assets Internal assets refer to the resolve, skills, and values needed for strong character. Parents and other caregivers nurture these assets from infancy to adolescence. During the teen years, these assets help provide young people with an “internal compass” that guides them to make wise choices. Christine

Internal Assets Commitment to Learning Positive Values Social Competencies Positive Identity Christine See Asset Approach

The Power of Assets to Promote Christine

The Power of Assets to Protect Christine The assets are cumulative in their effect—the more assets that young people have, the better. On page 4 of the Asset Approach it shows that youth consistently possess, on average, less than half the assets. The more developmental assets that young people have, the more likely they are to report that they engage in safe and healthy behaviours and the less likely they are to report that they engage in high-risk behaviours.

Youth with Different Levels of Assets 32% 31–40 Assets 8% 0–10 Assets 17% 11–20 Assets 42% Nicole This holds true in both urban and rural settings (as on page 4 of “The Asset Approach”). Use Esterhazy example…Can be applied to any community the research statistics are very transferrable. The assets that adults may identify to be low are not necessarily the ones that the youth actually show to lack; however this information is also transferrable as the Esterhazy study shows as well.

Grading Grown-Ups Actions Believe Important (%) Do It (%) Gap in % points Encourage success in school 92 69 21 Expect parents to set boundaries 84 42 Teach shared values 80 45 35 Teach respect for cultural differences 77 36 41 Guide decision making 76 Have meaningful conversations 75 34 Give financial guidance 39 Discuss personal values 73 37 Expect respect for adults 68 67 1 Nicole Based on research from Scales, Benson, and Roehlkepartain—Grading Grown-Ups: American Adults Report on Their Real Relationships with Kids (2001) For most adults there is a sizable gap between their beliefs of what is important and their corresponding actions Asked “Which adults behaviours they believe are most important for the healthy development of young people” and the “Do they actually act on those beliefs?”

How Can We build Assets? Look at the 8 categories: How were these assets provided to you when you were growing up? What are the barriers to providing them now? What do you think you can do to build these assets? Nicole

Principles of Asset Building All young people need assets. Everyone can build assets. Relationships are key. Asset building is an ongoing process. Consistent messages are crucial. Repetition is important. Nicole—direct to Handout #7 Asset Building is not new--it’s been going on to varying degrees for a long time, although we may not have labelled it as asset building Assets can be built in lots of different places and in different ways by all kings of people across a community It’s hard to build just one asset—they are by their nature intertwined.

Relationships Key to beginning to build developmental assets with young people Young people should also try to build relationships with adults, their peers and younger children The more young people we build assets with, the more likely it is that every young person will have someone to connect with and that young people will be getting consistent messages about what’s important and how to live a healthy life. Christine Asset-Building Ideas for Individuals Asset Building Ideas for Organizations

The Asset Building Difference From To Young people’s problems Young people’s strengths Professionals’ work Everyone’s work Young people absorbing resources Young people as resources Programs Relationships Troubled young people All young people Accountable only for own behaviour Accountable as well for other adults’ behaviour Incidental asset building Intentional asset building Blaming others Claiming responsibility Nicole How we build assets: Change attitudes—think about attitudes that are consistent with the asset framework

Key Messages There is a direct correlation between DA and Academic Performance It doesn’t take a great deal of time to build DA Assets can be built early in the life of a child, from birth through adolescence Building assets helps parents and guardians get what they want for their children Involving other responsible, caring adults in children’s lives means parents don’t have to do it all alone. You probably are already building assets, but perhaps they could be more intentional, consistent, and systematic about it. You can have a positive influence on other people’s children as well. Nicole

Asset Building In Moose Jaw and Area Any Success Stories Where to from here? Questions?? Nicole—12:40