What are Youth Developmental Assets?
The framework of Youth Developmental Assets is simple—young people need positive internal strengths and external support to succeed in life. Most importantly, the youth need people to nurture these assets.
At United Way of Snohomish
County, we know that all people can be "asset builders". To help people think about the range of possible asset-building acts, the Search Institute has developed a list of six main principles.
1. Everyone can build assets.
Building assets isn’t just about great families, schools, or neighborhoods. It’s about each person playing a role in the raising of our children.
2. All young people need assets.
While it is crucial to pay special attention to youth who struggle— economically, emotionally, or otherwise—nearly all young people need more assets than they have.
3. Relationships are key.
Strong relationships between adults and young people, young people and their peers, and teenagers and children are central to asset building.
4. Asset building is an ongoing process.
Building assets starts when a child is born and continues through high school and beyond.
5. Consistent messages are important.
It is critical for families, schools, communities, the media, and others to all give young people consistent and similar messages about what is important and what is expected of them.
6. Intentional redundancy is important.
Assets must be continually reinforced across the years and in all areas of a young persons’ life.
"Assets have power for all young people, regardless of their gender, economic status, family, or race/ethnicity."
How do Youth Developmental Assets make an impact on the community?
Developmental Assets have the power to protect and the power to promote. Through research done at the Search Institute, it has been proven that the more assets a child has, the more likely he/she is to succeed later in life.
The impact on the child who has very few assets compared to the child who has a lot of assets is enormous. Through self-reporting surveys, one example suggests that youth who have 0-10 assets have a 61percent chance of being violent compared to youth who have 31-40 assets only have a 7 percent chance of being violent.
Moreover, having more assets helps youth succeed. For example, youth with 0-10 assets have an 8 percent chance of succeeding in school while youth with 31-40 assets have a 47 percent change of being academically successful. This discrepancy suggests that assets do indeed make a large impact in a child's development.
More concerning however, is the fact that assets decrease over time. Instead, youth should have either the same or increasing amounts of assets as the step into adulthood.
These findings transcend ethnic, geographic, and gender boundaries. All of the different types of youth are reporting data that lead to similar trends. This means that adults really need to intentionally be asset builders in order to promote successful and productive communities in the future.
To get more information about the research on Youth Developmental Assets, visit the research page at the Search Institute site.
How can I become an asset builder?
In order to effectively be an asset builder one must provide the youth with safe places, surround them with caring adults, and engage them in positive activities.
The developmental asset framework is categorized in two groups of 20 assets. These include both internal and external assets; below are examples of assets in both of these categories.
External Assets are the positive experiences young people receive from the world around them; this includes:
- Supporting and empowering young people
- Setting boundaries and expectations
- Advocating positive and constructive use of young people's time
Internal Assets identify characteristics and behaviors that reflect positive internal growth and development of young people; this includes promoting:
- Positive values and identity
- Social competencies and commitment to learning
Moreover, to be an effective asset builder, there must be two changes in the thinking about youth. The first shift is to change our thinking from fixing young people's problems to promoting young people's strengths. This way, there is an emphasis on the positive aspects of the youth rather than a constant focus on the negative aspects of young people. It is also important to not only develop assets for troubled youth but also provide developmental assets for the excelling youth so that these people can continue to succeed.
In addition, there is a second shift that is required which is changing thinking beyond programs to developing relationships. By developing relationships, youth can grow their strengths and become a valuable part of the community.
By actively being an asset builder, one can truly make a difference in the community (refer to the above section to learn more about the power of assets), create long-term positive change for the youth, and help invest for the future of our communities.
There are many more ways to become an asset builder. Visit the Search Institute website to see lists of 40 assets for various age groups of youth.
Where can I learn more about assets and get trained to be an asset builder?
There are many ways that one learn more about assets and get training to become a more effective asset builder. Below, are links to websites where more information can be found about Youth Developmental Assets. Moreover, there are downloadable documents (.pdf format) that contain a vast range of information about assets. Documents are provided in English, Spanish, and French.
Websites
Search Institute—Developmental Assets
Documents and Materials
English
40 Developmental Assets for Early Childhood
40 Developmental Assets for Middle Childhood
40 Developmental Assets for Adolescents
Spanish
40 Elementos Fundamentales del Desarrollo para niños pre-escolares
40 Elementos Fundamentales del Desarrollo para la pre-adolescencia
40 Elementos Fundamentales del desarrollo para la adolescencia
French
40 Acquis dont les jeunes ont besoin pour réussir
Training and Events
In addition to the materials, there are a variety of training events that are currently being held. With the Marysville Kids Matter group, United Way is holding multiple trainings throughout the year. For specific dates of the events and for more information about the trainings, please contact Lynn Lewis.
Also, visit the Marysville Kids Matter page for more information about upcoming events and the new Youth Developmental Assets pilot program in the Marysville School District.
For more information about Youth Developmental Assets, please visit the Search Institute.