What works for youth (part 2 of 2)

We resume our exploration of the 40 Developmental Assets, described by the Search Institute as "building blocks of healthy development…that help young people grow up healthy, caring, and responsible." Researchers have found a link between abundant developmental assets and positive lifestyles characterized by thriving characteristics and resistance to negative behaviors. So it is everyone's best interest that every young person experience as many assets as possible. Last week I described the kinds of environments that help young people thrive. This week we'll look at Internal Assets, good old-fashioned virtues and characteristics that help young people make good choices. Here they are:

Category: Commitment to Learning
21. Achievement Motivation—Young person is motivated to do well in school.
22. School Engagement—Young person is actively engaged in learning.
23. Homework—Young person reports doing at least one hour of homework every school day.
24. Bonding to school—Young person cares about her or his school.
25. Reading for Pleasure—Young person reads for pleasure three or more hours per week.

Category: Positive Values
26. Caring—Young person places high value on helping other people.
27. Equality and social justice—Young person places high value on promoting equality and reducing hunger and poverty.
28. Integrity—Young person acts on convictions and stands up for her or his beliefs.
29. Honesty—Young person “tells the truth even when it is not easy.”
30. Responsibility—Young person accepts and takes personal responsibility.
31. Restraint—Young person believes it is important not to be sexually active or to use alcohol or other drugs.

Category: Social Competencies
32. Planning and decision making—Young person knows how to plan ahead and make choices.
33. Interpersonal Competence—Young person has empathy, sensitivity, and friendship skills.
34. Cultural Competence—Young person has knowledge of and comfort with people of different cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds.
35. Resistance skills—Young person can resist negative peer pressure and dangerous situations.
36. Peaceful conflict resolution—Young person seeks to resolve conflict nonviolently.

Category: Positive Identity
37. Personal power—Young person feels he or she has control over “things that happen to me.”
38. Self-esteem—Young person reports having a high self-esteem.
39. Sense of purpose—Young person reports that “my life has a purpose.”
40. Positive view of personal future—Young person is optimistic about her or his personal future.

The Internal Assets are a little trickier to promote than the External Assets, because we obviously don't have control over a young person’s buy-in to these ideas. If we cannot light the fire for young people, there are still certainly some things we can do to "fan the flames" about these good character qualities:

1. Lead by Example. Sometimes we want young people to have better character than we demonstrate. Showing them your own consistent good example is better teaching than dozens of lectures. 
2. Critically engage culture. When you're watching television with your child, ask them about the behaviors and attitudes you see portrayed on television, such as: "How do you think people in real life would treat someone who behaved that way to their family?" or "How would you go about solving this problem if you were in a similar situation?"
3. Call out the good. When you observe young people expressing positive assets, mention it. Be specific, as in: "Tony, that was very caring of you to help that elderly lady with her shopping cart" or "Emily, I was so proud that you had the courage and character to stand up for that classmate when others were making fun of her." It is too easy for adults to criticize what we don't like, and it rarely helps in changing behavior. So let’s resolve to break that bad habit. As Dale Carnegie advised, "Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to." Still good advice today.

The 40 Developmental Assets are easy to understand and a practical help for families, educators, clergy, coaches, and caring members of the community. It is well worth your time to learn more about them. Check out the Search Institute's website.

Ian Eastman, M.A. is the Conference Youth Coordinator for the Southwestern New York Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Coordinator of the Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry in Jamestown NY, and a Youth Minister in the Pastoral Care Department at Gustavus Adolphus Family Services. He is a student at the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary.