Our Greatest Resource

Say the words youth development, and the first thing most people think of is after-school programs, camps, sports leagues, youth leadership programs, mentoring, skills training, and a wide variety of other programs for youth.

While these constructive activities are certainly important resources for young people, the field of youth development has expanded considerably in the past 15 years. Youth development is becoming more of a philosophy or approach to guide many initiatives throughout a community, rather than a specific type of program or activity for young people. As part of this shift, there's a growing belief that everyone in a community is on the youth development team--not just those engaged in youth programs and activities.

This broadening vision offers new opportunities for parks and recreation organizations and professionals. It creates new openness to your being a catalyst and leader for unleashing the power of the whole community for youth development. It also challenges you to become a resource for awareness, training, growth, and technical assistance for others in the community who are just discovering their capacity to support and contribute to young people's healthy development.

The Growth of Youth Development

Many different initiatives in the past two decades have helped to create this broader perspective and to heighten the visibility of youth development in the United States. National youth organizations, independent research and advocacy organizations, and thousands of youth development practitioners in communities across the country have echoed the belief articulated by Karen Pittman, now of the International Youth Foundation: "Problem-free is not fully prepared."

The focus on positive youth development emerged in the 1980s and gained an even higher profile in the 1990s. Perhaps the highest visibility came from the launching in 1997 of America's Promise: The Alliance for Youth at a summit that was supported by all five living U.S. presidents. Since then, retired Gen. Colin Powell has become a tireless champion of youth development in all areas of American life. Then, earlier this year, President Clinton and the first lady hosted The White House Conference on Teenagers: Raising Responsible and Resourceful Youth, which focused on the power and importance of a youth development approach.

For the past decade, we at Search Institute have sought to contribute to positive youth development in two primary ways. First, we have sought to identify and measure key experiences, opportunities, relationships, and personal qualities that young people need in order to thrive (which we call "developmental assets"). Second, we have highlighted the important role that all organizations, institutions, and residents in a community can -- and must -- play in raising caring, responsible, and healthy young people.

Developmental Assets: A Foundation for Success

There are many different ways to define youth development. (Visit the Web site of the National Youth Development Information Center for more information: www.nydic.org.) Search Institute's work has focused primarily on seeking to identify and measure a wide range of factors that contribute to healthy development, which we have organized into the framework of developmental assets (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. THE FRAMEWORK OF 40 DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS

Search Institute has identified the following building blocks of healthy development that help young people grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.

External Assets                    Internal Assets

Support                            Commitment to Learning

1. Family support                  21. Achievement motivation
2. Positive family communication   22. School engagement
3. Other adult relationships       23. Homework
4. Caring neighborhood             24. Bonding to school
5. Caring school climate           25. Reading for pleasure
6. Parent involvement in
   schooling

Empowerment                        Positive Values

7. Community values youth          26. Caring
8. Youth as resources              27. Equality and social justice
9. Service to others               28. Integrity
10. Safety                         29. Honesty
                                   30. Responsibility
                                   31. Restraint

Boundaries and Expectations        Social Competencies

11. Family boundaries              32. Planning and decision-making
12. School boundaries              33. Interpersonal competence
13. Neighborhood boundaries        34. Cultural competence
14. Adult role models              35. Resistance skills
15. Positive peer influence        36. Peaceful conflict resolution
16. High expectations

Constructive Use of Time           Positive Identity

17. Creative activities            37. Personal power
18. Youth programs                 38. Self-esteem
19. Religious community            39. Sense of purpose
20. Time at home                   40. Positive view of personal
                                       future

For definitions of each of the developmental assets, visit www.search-institute.org. Copyright [C] 1996 by Search Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Used with permission.

These assets offer a research-based framework for understanding what young people need to grow up successfully. They also offer a vision for communities and organizations to rally together in ensuring that all young people have the positive opportunities, relationships, skills, and competencies that they need to be contributing members of society. The assets are organized into eight categories.

Support--Support refers to a range of ways in which young people experience love, affirmation, and acceptance. Ideally, young people experience an abundance of this kind of support not only in their families but also from many people across many settings, including their neighborhoods and schools.

Empowerment--The empowerment assets relate to the key developmental need for youth to be valued and feel valuable. These assets highlight this need, focusing on community perceptions of youth and opportunities for youth to contribute in meaningful ways. The perception of safety is an important underlying factor of youth empowerment. Young people who feel safe are more likely to feel valued and able to make a difference than young people who feel afraid at home, at school, or in the neighborhood.

Boundaries and expectations--Boundaries-and-expectations assets highlight young people's need for clear and enforced standards and norms. Ideally, young people experience appropriate boundaries in their families, schools, and neighborhoods (as well as other settings), receiving a set of consistent messages about acceptable behavior. Similarly, high expectations and positive peer and adult role models challenge'young people to excel.

Constructive use of time--One of the prime characteristics of a healthy community for youth is a rich array of structured opportunities for children and adolescents. Whether through schools, community organizations, or religious institutions, these structured activities contribute to the development of many of the assets. They not only help build young people's peer relationships and skills, they also connect youth to principled, caring adults. At the same time, the need for these activities must be balanced with the need to spend time at home relaxing, reconnecting, reflecting, and participating in family life.

Commitment to learning--A commitment to learning can be nurtured in all young people, not just in those who excel academically. The commitment-to-learning assets highlight several dimensions of a young person's engagement with learning in school. In addition, they touch on informal, self-motivated learning and discovery through reading for pleasure.

Positive values--Positive values are important "internal compasses" that guide young people's priorities and choices. The first two positive-values assets are prosocial values that involve caring for others and the world. The four remaining positive-values assets focus more on personal character, which provide a basis for wise decision-making.

Social competencies--The social-competencies assets give young people the tools they need to live out their values, beliefs, and priorities. The first two social-competencies assets emphasize personal choices. The other three focus on healthy interpersonal relationships.

Positive identity--The positive-identity assets focus on young people's view of themselves. Without these assets, young people risk feeling powerless and without a sense of initiative and purpose.

The Importance of Building Assets

Many people look at the 40 assets and say, "These make sense to me. What's the big deal?" The "big deal" is twofold:

First, most American youth do not have enough of these assets in their lives. Indeed, our surveys of almost 100,000 youth in 210 communities have found that the average 6th- to 12th-grade youth experiences only 18 of the 40 assets. Although we see some variation across communities and in different subgroups of youth, the variation does not detract from the overall pattern. The vast majority of youth -- regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, family composition, family income level, and community size -- experience far too few of these 40 developmental assets.

Second, the developmental assets are powerful predictors of behavior across all cultural and socioeconomic groups of youth. They serve as protective factors, inhibiting, for example, alcohol and other drug abuse, violence, sexual intercourse, and school failure. They serve as enhancement factors, promoting positive developmental outcomes. The more of the assets a young person has, the lower the involvement in high-risk behavior (protection), and the greater the positive outcomes (enhancement), as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. THE POWER OF DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS

Search Institute's surveys of 100,000 young people in 210 communities illustrate the power of developmental assets in young people's lives. As the following table shows, young people who report having more assets in their lives are less likely to engage in a wide range of high-risk behavior patterns and more likely to exhibit thriving behaviors.

Risk Behavior
Pattern            Definition

Problem Alcohol    Has used alcohol three or
Use                more times in the past 30 days
                   or got drunk once or more in
                   the past two weeks.

Illicit Drug Use   Used illicit drugs (cocaine,
                   LSD, PCP or angel dust, heroin,
                   and amphetamines) three or
                   more times in the past 12
                   months.

Sexual Activity    Has had sexual intercourse
                   three or more times in lifetime.

Violence           Has engaged in three or more
                   acts of fighting, hitting, injuring
                   a person, carrying a weapon,
                   or threatening physical harm
                   in the past 12 months.

Thriving
Behavior           Definition

Succeeds in        Gets mostly A's on report
School             card.

Values             Places high importance on
Diversity          getting to know people of
                   other racial/ethnic groups.

Maintains Good     Pays attention to healthy
Health             nutrition and exercise.

Delays             Saves money for something
Gratification      special rather than spending
                   it all right away.

                   Number of Assets Experienced

Risk Behavior      0-10     11-20    21-30    31-40
Pattern            Assets   Assets   Assets   Assets

Problem Alcohol     53%      30%      11%       3%
Use

Illicit Drug Use    42%      19%       6%       1%

Sexual Activity     33%      21%      10%       3%

Violence            61%      35%      16%       6%

Thriving           0-10     11-20    21-30    31-40
Behavior           Assets   Assets   Assets   Assets

Succeeds in          7%      19%      35%      53%
School

Values              34%      53%      69%      87%
Diversity

Maintains Good      25%      46%      69%      88%
Health

Delays              27%      42%      56%      72%
Gratification

SOURCE: Peter L Benson et al., A Fragile Foundation: The State of Developmental Assets among American Youth (Minneapolis: Search Institute, 1999). Used with permission.

Thus, the developmental assets are powerful influences in young people's lives. Children and adolescents are best able to navigate through the challenges of growing up when they are armed with these assets. The more of these assets young people experience, the better.

Yet too few youth experience enough of these assets. Young people report having, on average, 18 of the 40 assets. Sixty-four percent of these young people report experiencing 20 or fewer of these assets in their lives, and 27 of the assets are experienced by one-half or fewer of the young people surveyed.

Tapping a Whole Community's Energy

What can be done to address the gap in assets for so many of today's young people? Clearly, there are specific ways your park and recreation programs already address many of the developmental assets, either directly or indirectly. But ensuring that all young people have these strengths (and other strengths identified by other youth development approaches) is a bigger job than any single program, family, organization, sector, or community can do on its own. As you look at the list of assets, you'll see that virtually everyone in a community can -- and should -- play a role in building these assets for young people.

The National Recreation and Park Association is working with Search Institute on the National Asset Building Campaign to incorporate education and training into the recreational experience. The Colorado Springs (Colo.) Parks and Recreation Department is serving as a national pilot for building community-based collaborations for youth development.

As I reflect on the potential of parks and recreation programs and professionals in asset building, I think of four broad areas where parks and recreation programs can be a powerful resource for young people and your communities.

Building assets on your own--Much of the potential for asset building within the recreation and parks network is through the daily relationships -- some fleeting, some sustained -- between young people and adults, children and adolescents, and young people who provide guidance and support to each other. Everyone in the parks and recreation network has a role to play in caring for, supporting, encouraging, and guiding young people -- at home, at work, and in the community.

You don't need "youth development" in your title or job description to have a positive, lasting impact on young people's lives. You personally can focus more energy on building assets starting now; it doesn't require a decree or strategic plan or new grant. It can start with your own commitment to interact a little differently with the young people you know and encounter. In some communities that have begun asset-building efforts, one of the first things many adults become more intentional in doing is greeting young people cordially and respectfully.

Building assets through your programs--Though asset building is largely a relational process, your programs offer structured opportunities for intentional, focused asset building. They also give a setting for enhancing asset-building skills and strengthening relationships.

As you look at the list of assets, it's easy to think of the many ways your youth activities already contribute to building many assets. These might include arts activities (asset #17), service-learning activities (asset #9), sports programs (asset #18), and many others. The challenge is to identify these strengths and to think creatively of how you can be more intentional about building other assets through these same programs. For example, how can you focus on nurturing more intergenerational relationships (asset #3) or encouraging responsibility (asset #29) through a recreation program?

Infusing asset building throughout your organization-- A commitment to asset building (or positive youth development, more generally) can help to shape and focus many of the policies and activities of your organization. Many organizations find that the eight categories of assets (support, etc.) are useful benchmarks for planning. How can this organization be most effective in ensuring that young people feel loved and cared for (support)? What opportunities are there (or do we need to create) to empower young people to contribute (empowerment)? These kinds of questions can add new perspectives in your planning process. As you do this planning, keep the following kinds of questions in mind.

* Are there young people who are being overlooked through our current programming? How can we do more to tap and build the strengths of all young people?

* What opportunities are there for emphasizing intergenerational relationships?

* What roles can young people play in planning, leading, and implementing our asset-building efforts?

Igniting a community-wide asset-building effort--While each person and each organization can make significant contributions to young people's healthy development by focusing on building strengths, young people need that kind of involvement from many different people and in all aspects of their life. Thus, an important role for parks and recreation is to connect with others in the community, encouraging them to also join the asset-building team.

A shared vision for asset building in the community is a powerful tool for communicating the gap between the real and the ideal among "our" youth and for motivating all residents and systems to redirect their energy toward fulfilling the vision. The framework and language of developmental assets make possible broad public support and positive engagement in the lives of children and youth throughout the community. Such a shared commitment not only builds connections and cooperation in the community but also creates a set of shared values and norms that reinforces the positive and encourages everyone to get involved.

Because of your experience and expertise in youth development, you can be an advocate, leader, and champion for young people and asset building in the community. In this role you can encourage all aspects of the community -- from individuals to parents to schools to government to congregations -- to come together around a shared vision for and commitment to the healthy development of young people. In the process, you can be a resource to their efforts, equipping them with the necessary knowledge, strategies, and skills to be effective.

Join the Asset-Building Team

This country is searching for ways to address the needs of its young people, ensuring their success and health throughout life. Many important initiatives are underway that help set a positive direction. Through our work on asset building in the past decade, Search Institute has seen more than 500 communities of all sizes across the country begin Healthy Communities/ Healthy Youth initiatives focused on asset building. We invite every park and recreation professional and program to join the team as we, togeether, seek to discover how this country can do a better job of ensuring that all young people have the strengths they need to succeed.

Sand Springs Parks & Recreation 420 Plaza Court Sand Springs, OK 74063

Dear NRPA National Programs:

We want to thank you for the opportunity of being one of the 26 grantees for an ABA/BMX facility grant.

The construction of this new facility has already been completed. Thanks so much for this generous gift that was given to our community. It was very much appreciated.

Sincerely yours,

Richard Lorton Director Sand Springs Parks & Recreation

Ben Hamrick Macon-Bibb Co. Parks & Recreation P.O. Box 247 Macon, GA 31202

Dear NRPA National Programs:

Just wanted to let you know that we are well underway with the construction of our BMX track. John Clayton of the American Bicycle Association came down two weeks ago before the Dixieland Nationals in Atlanta. He looked at our site and arranged for his builder to come to Macon the following Tuesday. Craig Lewis, the builder, has been working day and night with our Georgia red clay to get the track built. He hopes to be finished within the next 4-5 days.

Thanks, Ben

City of Ionia Department of Parks & Recreation 439 W. Main Street Ionia, MI 48846

Dear NRPA National Programs:

Our new BMX facility, the result of a grant received through NRPA and the ABA, was opened on July 1. The facility is located on a newly created area of parkland purchased through the state of Michigan. In all, more than 250 acres have been made available for an extreme park, At this time, the BMX facility takes up almost 50 acres, with the track itself just under 10 acres.

Although much of the work is still yet to be completed on the facility, we were able to have our first sanctioned race as scheduled. Registrations ran from 9 a.m. to noon, which was followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the mayor, city manager, Chamber of Commerce director, and delegates from our local ambassadors association.

During breaks in the race there were prize drawings, which included two new BMX bikes as well as many other bike-related prizes. In addition, local businesses were very generous giving away many items.

Racing began at 1 p.m. and featured almost 150 riders. Community interest has been very positive and I am sure that once electric and water are installed on the site we will have even more riders and spectators.

Please accept my sincere appreciation for the grant award, and please pass my comments on to the ABA.

Sincerely,

John P. Skeel, MS, CTRS, CPRP, CPSI, AFO Director of Parks and Recreation

NRPA 2000 Urban youth initiative

A group of 90 golfers turned out for the inaugural NRPA Golf Classic on July 11 at the Enterprise Golf Course in Mitchellville, Md. The event, organized by NRPA's Urban Youth Initiative, assisted the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission's junior golf program and proclaimed NRPA's dedication to helping our nation's young people recognize and develop the skills necessary to become successful adults.

In addition to the afternoon of golf, the day featured a luncheon sponsored by the Lightspan Partnership Inc. and entertainment by musical group the Blackbyrds. Special guests included Andia Winslow, the country's top-ranked African-American female junior golfer, and motivational speaker Blaise Winter.

This was a great shot to make a difference in the future of our children. Let's continue to get a hole in one!

Sylvania Recreation 7060 Sylvania Avenue Sylvania, Ohio 43560

Let's Play Sports Camps

We at Sylvania Recreation were very pleased with the Let's Play Sports day camp curriculum and format that were employed in the summer of 1999. The lesson plans were very well organized and thought out. The time allotted for each activity seemed to be realistic in terms of the kids' attention span and abilities.

The level of experience of our camp directors ranged from high school varsity coaches to college students. All seemed to like the program and its easy format. Some of the more experienced directors incorporated parts of the program into their established models, while others used the LPS format almost verbatim.

Overall camp attendance for the seven different sports camps we offered increased by 40 percent from 1998, a total of 560 campers. The camps that were offered were baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, volleyball, tennis, football, and lacrosse. An eighth camp, girls' softball, was added for 2000.

Thanks,

Ken Katafias Operations Manager Sylvania Recreation

NATIONAL YOUTH DEVELOPMENT SOURCES

The following national organizations provide valuable information and tools for youth development, much of which is included in their extensive Web sites.

Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, Academy for Educational Development 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington DC, 20009 (202) 884-8267 www.aed.org/us/youth.html.

This organization examines policies, programs, and strategies in order to increase opportunities for youth and public to support positive development for all youth. Its Web site includes extensive background information on youth development.

Chapin Hall Center for Children 1313 East 60th Street Chicago, IL 60637 (773) 753-5900 www.chapin.uchicago.edu

This research and development center at the University of Chicago focuses on policies, practices, and programs affecting children and the families and communities in which they five. The Web site highlights the organization's many investigations of services needed to support healthy development.

Connect for Kids, The Benton Foundation 950 18th Street, N.W. Washington DC 20006 (202) 638-5770 www.connectforkids.org.

Connect for Kids, an online initiative of the Benton Foundation, offers extensive information on a wide range of youth development topics, including extensive links to research, programs, and policy issues.

International Youth Foundation 32 South Street Suite 500 Baltimore, MD 21202 (410) 347-1500 www.iyfnet.org

Dedicated to the positive development of children and youth throughout the world, IYF seeks to identify effective programs around the world, strengthen their impact, and expand their reach. Its Web site has extensive information on youth development from an international perspective.

National Youth Development Information Center, National Collaboration for Youth 1319 F Street NW Suite 601 Washington, DC 20004 (877) NYDIC-4-U.

This initiative of the National Assembly provides youth development information to national and local youth-serving organizations at low cost or no cost. Its comprehensive Web site includes databases of youth development organizations, research, policies, and much more.

Public/Private Ventures One Commerce Square 2005 Market Street Suite 900 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 557-4400 www.ppv.org.

P/PV examines social polices, strategies, and practices and is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote individual economic success and citizenship, and stronger families and communities. Its Web site provides information on the organization's research and evaluation efforts.

Search Institute 700 South Third Street Suite 210 Minneapolis, MN 55415 (800) 888-7828 www.search-institute.org.

Search Institute's Web site includes extensive information about developmental assets and community-wide efforts to build assets. The Institute offers a wide variety of products and services related to asset building in communities, schools, and other settings.

For more information on the research behind the assets, see Peter C. Scales and Nancy Leffert, Developmental Assets: A Synthesis of the Scientific Research on Adolescent Development (Minneapolis: Search Institute, 1999); and Peter L. Benson et al., A Fragile Foundation: The State of Developmental Assets Among American Youth (Minneapolis: Search Institute, 1999).

Peter L. Benson

Youth development, once considered a specific activity for young people, is today a philosophy, a structured approach for constructing a pathway through adolescence that will mold our nation's young people into the productive, responsible adults tomorrow. And, says Search Institute President Peter L. Benson, Ph.D., it does take the efforts of many -- a whole village, in fact -- to help them navigate the choppy waters of those crucial developmental years.

Benson's research and writing have triggered new approaches to youth development in hundreds of cities across the United States. His work with Minneapolis-based Search institute, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the well-being of children and adolescents, focuses on strengthening communities, social institutions, and public policy on behalf of America's youth. His writings on topics of children, adolescents, and community development include the books What Kids Need to Succeed and The Fragile Foundation: The State of Developmental Assets Among American Youth. "Our Greatest Asset" begins.

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