How? By building developmental assets—positive relationships, experiences, and inner strengths that all young people need to grow up healthy, caring, and responsible. Search Institute research on thousands of young people has shown that having these assets can make a tremendous difference in young people's lives, giving them strength to make positive choices.
Search Institute organizes the 40 developmental assets into eight categories. The first four categories (20 assets) are "external assets"—relationships, experiences, and opportunities provided by nuclear and extended families, caring adults and peers, neighborhoods, and institutions within communities. The other four categories are "internal assets," which focus on the commitments, values, skills, and outlook on life that guide young people's choices.
Below are eight ways you can build developmental assets—one for each category of assets. (Words in capital letters are the names of the asset categories.) Click on each one to get ideas for how to build those assets for all ages of children and youth.
Do adults believe it's important to build assets? Are they doing it? Check out the findings of a national study titled Grading Grown-Ups: American Adults Report on Their Real Relationships with Kids
