Building Assets in Our Kids

What helps children grow to lead healthy happy lives?

What can we do to prevent high risk taking behaviour of our youth?

Do you ever wonder why some kids seem to grow up with ease while others struggle? Are you surprised that some kids thrive in spite of difficult circumstances? Search Institute (www.search-institute.org) has identified 40 factors that are essential to young people’s success. They call these 40 factors Developmental Assets. These assets aren’t financial. Instead, they are opportunities, skills, relationships, values, and self-perceptions that all young people need in their lives. The assets are both external (things that other people provide for youth) and internal (things that young people develop within themselves).

What we have learned is that more of these 40 assets the child/youth has the more likely they are to develop positive behaviours and attitudes and the greater the likelihood that they will:

• Succeed in school;
• Respect friends, family, neighbours, and community;
• Maintain good health;
• Have positive values;
• Develop a positive identity;
• Use their time constructively;
• Resolve conflict peacefully;
• Resist negative influences;
• Make good choices.

The more assets children have the less likely they are to engage in harmful or unhealthy choices such as:

• Underage drinking;
• Violence;
• Illicit drug use;
• Sexual activity;
• Eating disorders;
• School problems.

Parenting can be a challenge with no easy answers. Building assets or skills does increase the chance a child will grow up healthy and resilient the more assets they have. An asset will be added to this page each week and can be found below.

Categories of Developmental Assets:

The Boundaries and Expectations Category of Developmental Assets