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The Howard Center for Human Services First Call for Children and Families |
To contact
First Call |
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The Howard Center for Human Services First Call for Children and Families |
To contact
First Call |
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THE NINTH PRINCIPLE CONSTRUCTIVE ASSET BUILDING An important protective factor in prevention of substance abuse is the asset building process. The Search Institute (Peter Benson) has now surveyed over 350,000 children and youth (grades 6-12) in 38 states. These surveys consistently show that more assets are correlated with less risk behavior, and those with higher than average assets succeed best in life. Furthermore, correlations were bundled in positive and negative behaviors. For example, lower levels of assets correlated with higher risk behaviors in negative areas (more violence, more depression, more ATOD use, more sexual behavior and poor school performance); higher levels of assets correlated with reductions in these risky behaviors. Assets are both external and internal: external assets include support, empowerment, boundaries, expectations, structured time; internal assets include educational commitment, prosocial values, social competence and positive identity. Experiencing helpful relationships with positive role model adults is an important aspect of asset building. Parents need to be directly involved in asset building with their children as a preventive and success-enhancing measure. More details appear on the next page.
HELPFUL HINTS IN ASSET BUILDING IN YOUR FAMILY 1. Refer to and become familiar with the list of asset building skills on the next page. 2. Review the assets list and apply it to yourself. Are there any assets you have strengths in? If so, assist your child with your best asset first. Are there any assets where you do not have skill? If so work on that asset for yourself before you attempt to help your child with it. 3. For children who are under age fourteen, select one asset a month to work on. Introduce it, encourage it, practice it and reinforce it in small incremental steps. 4. Select another asset where your child is weaker. For a long-term project develop a step-by-step plan with your child to develop this asset. For example, since interpersonal relationships are so important in life, ways to improve these assets include teaching them, coaching them, modeling them and reinforcing them. This cycle may apply to empathy skills, sensitivity skills, and friendship skills. 5. Contact your local school or social service agency and encourage them to offer ongoing asset building support groups for children and youth.
RECOMMENDED READING Benson, P. L. et.al. (1995). What Kids Need to Succeed. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit.
LISTING OF CERTAIN DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS (From Search Institute) EXTERNAL ASSETS Asset Types Assets Meaning
INTERNAL ASSETS Asset Types Assets Meaning
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