Transcript Developmental Assets: A Profile of Youth

Giving youth a voice…
What matters to youth from grades 7 - 12
Developmental Assets:
A Profile of Our Youth
Leeds & Grenville Schools
Grades 7 -12
Search Institute Profile of Student
Life: Attitudes and Behaviours
Participating schools
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Athens DHS
Brockville CIVS
Gananoque SS
North Grenville DHS
Rideau DHS
South Grenville DHS
Thousand Islands SS
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Commonwealth PS
Lyn/Tincap PS
Maynard PS
Oxford on Rideau PS
Prince of Wales PS
South Branch ES
Toniata PS
Westminster PS
Who was surveyed
• Randomly selected - 21% of grades 7-12
student population:
1632
• Gender:
Females
Males
840
778
Breakdown by grades
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Grade 7
Grade 8
Grade 9
Grade 10
Grade 11
Grade 12
• Total
169
202
401
325
283
245
**1632**
Our community profile
31–40
Assets
4%
21–30
Assets
35%
Copyright 2005 Search Institute
0–10 Assets
22%
11–20 Assets
49%
We believe
that…..
…young people are valuable
resources
Investigating
our community profile
What did the survey show???
Percentage of Youth reporting each
specific asset…
How do our youth see themselves and
their world???
External assets….
• SUPPORT young people with care and
attention.
• EMPOWER them to use their abilities to
help others.
• Set reasonable BOUNDARIES AND have
high EXPECTATIONS.
• Help them find activities that make
CONSTRUCTIVE USE OF their TIME.
SUPPORT young people with care and
attention.
#1 – Family support
65%
#2 – Positive family communication
31%
#3 – Other adult relationships
41%
#4 – Caring neighbourhood
36%
#5 – Caring School climate
26%
#6 – Parent involvement in schooling
20%
EMPOWER them to use their abilities to
help others.
# 7 - Community Values Youth
18%
# 8 – Youth as resources
23%
# 9 – Service to others
49%
# 10 – Safety
51%
Set reasonable BOUNDARIES AND have
high EXPECTATIONS.
#11 – Family boundaries
34%
# 12 – School boundaries
39%
# 13 – Neighbourhood boundaries
39%
# 14 – Adult role models
23%
# 15 Positive peer influence
48%
# 16 – High expectations
43%
Help them find activities that make
CONSTRUCTIVE USE OF their time.
# 17 – Creative activities
16%
# 18 – Youth programs
57%
# 19 – Religious community
24%
# 20 – Time at home
50%
Internal assets
• Spark their COMMITMENT TO LEARNING.
• Guide them toward a life based on
POSITIVE VALUES.
• Help the develop SOCIAL COMPETENCIES
and life skills.
• Celebrate their uniqueness and affirm their
POSITIVE IDENTITY.
Spark their COMMITMENT TO LEARNING.
# 21 - Achievement motivation
58%
# 22 - School engagement
54%
# 23 - Homework
36%
# 24 – Bonding to school
55%
# 25 – Reading for pleasure
28%
Guide them toward a life based on
POSITIVE VALUES.
# 26 – Caring
42%
# 27 – Equality and social justice
45%
# 28 – Integrity
65%
# 29 – Honesty
65%
# 30 – Responsibility
58%
# 31 – Restraint
23%
Help the develop SOCIAL
COMPETENCIES and life skills.
# 32 – Planning and decision-making
25%
# 33 – Interpersonal competence
39%
# 34 – Cultural competence
33%
# 35 – Resistance skills
35%
# 36 - Peaceful conflict resolution
38%
Celebrate their uniqueness and affirm
their POSITIVE IDENTITY.
# 37 – Personal power
40%
# 38 – Self-esteem
44%
# 39 – Sense of purpose
59%
# 40 – Positive view of personal future
74%
Average # assets/ community
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
17.9 Assets
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0
L&G
Asset Profile by grade ….
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11
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Total
Grade 7
Gr 8
Gr 9
Gr 10
Gr 11
Gr 12
Why assets are important…
They do
make a difference
in the lives of young people
They are the keys to success
Thriving behaviours
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School success
Informal helping
Valuing diversity
Maintaining good health
Exhibiting leadership
Resisting danger
Impulse control
Overcoming adversity
The Survey shows the connection
between thriving (+) behaviours and the
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number of assets a youth has…
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0-10 Assets
11-20 Assets
21-30 Assets
31-40 Assets
Deficits
Influences that interfere with healthy development
by limiting access to external assets, or
by easing the way into risky behavioural choices
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Alone at home
TV Overexposure
Physical Abuse
Victim of violence
Drinking Parties
56%
36%
33%
37%
62%
High Risk behaviours
(24 -- Identified by the survey )
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Alcohol use
Binge drinking
Smoking
Smokeless tobacco
Inhalants
Marijuana
Other illicit drugs
Drinking and driving
Riding with a driver who has
been drinking
• Sexual intercourse
• Shoplifting
• Vandalism
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Trouble with police
Hitting someone
Hurting someone
Use of a weapon
Group fighting
Carrying a weapon for
protection
Threatening physical harm
Skipping school
Gambling
Eating disorders
Depression
Attempted suicide
The Survey shows the connection
between high risk behaviours and the
number of assets a youth has…
#
Of
High
Risk
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0-10 Assets
11-20 Assets
21-30 Assets
31-40 Assets
From awareness to action…
Regardless of town size or geography,
youth typically:
• Receive too little support through sustained and
positive intergenerational relationships
• Lack opportunities for leadership and involvement
• Disengage from youth-serving programs in the
community
• Experience inconsistent and unarticulated
boundaries
• Feel disconnected from their community
• Miss the formation of social competencies and
positive values
So what???
• We will continue to see too many
young people who are susceptible to
risk taking and negative pressure,
drawn to less desirable sources of
belonging, and ill-equipped to become
the next generation of parents,
workers, leaders, and citizens.
• What needs to change??
What needs to change??
• Refocus emphasis of well-intentioned
youth development programs from
attacking the consequences of asset
depletion
• To placing energy into rebuilding the
asset foundation for youth
Ultimately, rebuilding and strengthening the
developmental infrastructure in a community is not
a program run by professionals. It is a ……
…movement
That creates a community-wide sense of
common purpose, places residents and their
leaders on the same team moving in the
same direction, and creates a culture in
which all residents are expected, by virtue
of their membership in the community, to
promote the positive development of youth.
Developmental Assets: A profile of youth in Leeds& Grenville
Survey Report, Search Institute
Promoting Developmental
Assets
Assets are cumulative or additive
The more the better
Research shows the more assets, the
less likely to participate in risk taking
behaviours and more likely to be
involved in thriving behaviours
PRINCIPLES
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All children and youth need assets.
Relationships are key.
Everyone can build assets.
Building assets is an ongoing process.
Asset building requires consistent
messages.
• Duplication and repetition are good
and important.
Taking Action
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Establish long-term goals and perspective
Mobilize the public
Think intergenerationally
Expand the reach of family education
Support and expand current asset-building efforts
Strengthen socializing systems
Empower youth to contribute
Elevate the importance of service
Provide places to grow
Advocate for quality opportunities for young people
Begin public dialogue
Developmental Assets: A profile of youth in Leeds& Grenville
Survey Report, Search Institute