Young People Today: What’s the Real
Story?
When was the last time you heard a statistic or report about children
and youth that was really positive and uplifting? Today? Yesterday? Last
month? Last year?
If you can’t remember the last time you heard something great about
young people, you are not alone. Many Americans – in particular those
whose exposure to young people is limited to news reports and infrequent
encounters in the community – have an image of young people today as
disengaged, disrespectful, and irresponsible. With few exceptions, media
coverage of young people only serves to perpetuate this image.
But the picture isn’t really so bleak. In fact, young people today are
involved in community service and leadership in amazing and inspiring
ways. Teenagers are running their own businesses, writing books,
competing in Olympic events, not to mention doing well in school, having
great relationships with their families and friends, volunteering in
their communities, taking care of their own physical and mental health,
and other admirable things.
On the other hand, we know too well that some young people are
struggling, in pain, hurting others or themselves.
What makes the difference? Why do some youth thrive while others don’t?
How can young people overcome economic, social, physical, and emotional
challenges and emerge as competent healthy adults?
A Reason for Hope
At least part of the answer can be found in research done by Search
Institute. The institute is a nonprofit organization that studies and
promotes strategies for the healthy development of children and youth.
On the basis of more than 40 years or research and surveys of hundreds
of thousands of young people, the organization has identified 40
experiences and qualities that have a tremendous positive influence on
young people from all walks of life.
These 40 factors, known as developmental assets, are linked to a
multitude of positive outcomes, including success in school, maintaining
good health, being a leader, and avoiding high risk behaviors such as
alcohol use, violence and sexual activity.
More than 200,000 young people in grades 6-12 across the country
completed Search Institute’s Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and
Behaviors survey during the 1999-2000 school year. Of those students,
only 8 percent who experience 0-10 assets report getting mostly A’s in
school. In comparison, 46 percent of those who experience 31-40 assets
get mostly A’s. The chart below shows another example of the positive
impact of assets.
External Supports and Internal Strengths
The developmental assets fall into eight broad categories of human
development:
- Support
- Empowerment
- Boundaries and Expectations
- Constructive Use of Time
- Commitment to Learning
- Positive Values
- Social Competencies
- Positive Identity
The first four categories focus on the
external supports that surround young people; the second four categories
reflect the internal strengths and competencies that young people need
to develop in order to fully engage with and function in the world
around them.
According to Peter Benson, president of Search Institute, one of the
most powerful implications of the findings is that the positive effects
of assets are experienced across gender, racial/ethnic, age and
geographic boundaries. Regardless of where they live, how old they are
or the color of their skin, young people who have more assets are more
likely to succeed.
There is another pattern that emerges from the research; namely, young
people from all walks of life experience too few assets. 15% report
experiencing 0-10 Assets, 41% report experiencing 11-20 Assets, 35%
report experiencing 21-30 Assets, and only 9% report experiencing 31-40
Assets.
Building Assets
As with so many things involving children and youth, it’s easy to assume
that the power and responsibility for increasing young people’s
developmental assets lie with parents and schools. But experts stress
that this is not the case. Search Institute trainings and resources
emphasize that all people in a community have a role to play in the
lives of young people, even if it’s as simple as greeting them with a
smile rather than frowning or looking away.
A question people sometimes ask about the asset framework is “What makes
it unique?” How is it really different from any other model or framework
for thinking about youth development? The answer lies, in part, in its
simplicity. When you look at the graphs showing the relationship between
assets and a whole range of positive outcomes, it’s easy to see why
young people need them,” says Eugene Roehlkepartain, Search Institute’s
director of family and congregational initiatives. “And,” he adds, “It’s
pretty easy to make the case that they are important because the assets
reflect common sense about what’s good for people.”
Another appeal of the assets is that anyone who wants to can find a way
to build them. For example, asset #7 is community values youth. Even
adults who have little personal contact with youth can build this asset
by taking time to greet youth they encounter, making an effort to get to
know young people in their neighborhoods, or volunteering in
organizations that serve young people. Peter Benson believes that in
time, these “solitary beginnings” can make a difference. As he writes in
All Kids Are Our Kids, “over time, these quiet actions can become a
steady drumbeat that transforms our nation, one young person and one
community at a time.”
For more information about developmental assets and how building assets
helps young people visit www.search-institute.org.
