| EXTERNAL ASSETS |
| Support |
1. Family support:
Family life provides high levels of love and support.
2. Positive family communication:
Communicates well with parent(s) and seeks advice and counsel.
3. Other adult relationships:
Gets support from three or more non-parent adults.
4. Caring neighborhood:
Experiences caring neighbors.
5. Caring school climate:
Caring, encouraging environment.
6. Parent involvement in schooling:
Helping youth succeed in school. |
| Empowerment |
7. Community values youth:
Adults value youth.
8. Youth as resources:
Have useful roles in the community.
9. Service to others:
Serve in the community one hour or more per week.
10. Safety:
Feels safe in home, school and the neighborhood. |
| Boundaries &
Expectations |
11. Family boundaries:
Have clear rules and consequences.
12. School boundaries:
Have clear rules and consequences.
13. Neighborhood boundaries:
Neighbors monitor youth behavior.
14. Adult role models:
Adults model positive, responsible behavior.
15. Positive peer influence:
Friends model positive, responsible behavior.
16. High expectations:
Parents and teachers encourage the youth. |
| Use of Time |
17. Creative activities:
Three or more hours weekly involved in music, theater, or other arts.
18. Youth programs:
Three or more hours weekly in sports, clubs, or organization.
19. Religious community:
One or more hours weekly in religious activities.
20. Time at home:
Out with friends "with nothing special to do" two or fewer nights per
week. |
| Internal Assets |
| Commitment
to Learning |
21. Achievement motivation:
Motivated to do well in school
22. School engagement:
Actively engaged in learning.
23. Homework:
Reports one or more hours of homework every school day.
24. Bonding to school:
Cares about his or her school.
25. Reading for pleasure:
Reads for pleasure three or more hours per week. |
| Positive Values |
26. Caring:
Values helping other people.
27. Equality & social justice:
Values promoting equality and reducing hunger and poverty.
28. Integrity:
Stands up for her or his beliefs.
29. Honesty:
Tells the truth even when it is not easy.
30. Responsibility:
Accepts personal responsibility.
31. Restraint:
Believes it is important not to be sexually active or to use alcohol or
other drugs. |
| Social
Competencies |
32. Planning and decision-making:
Knows how to plan ahead and make choices.
33. Interpersonal competence:
Has empathy, sensitivity, and friendship skills.
34. Cultural competence:
Has knowledge of, and is comfortable with, people of different
cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds.
35. Resistance skills:
Can resist negative peer pressure.
36. Peaceful conflict resolution:
Seeks to resolve conflict nonviolently. |
| Boundaries &
Expectations |
37. Personal power:
Feels control over "things that happen to me."
38. Self-esteem:
Reports having high self-esteem.
39. Sense of purpose:
Believes life has a purpose.
40. Positive view of personal future:
Optimistic about the future. |
| Note: From Healthy Communities Healthy Youth published by The Search Institute, Minneapolis, MN, 1998. |
