Asset building doesn’t offer a neat set of techniques and tricks for more effective parenting. Rather, it offers some basic goals against which to make decisions and shape family life. There will still be ups and downs. There will still be challenges. But asset building can help parents be intentional about their choices, knowing that what they do can have a tremendously positive impact in shaping their children’s lives. The asset-building framework offers several benefits for parents:
A focus for parenting
The asset-building framework reminds parents of the “bottom line” in their child-rearing. Rather than focusing on “getting ahead” or avoiding problems, the assets help parents see that their primary role lies in raising caring, competent, and responsible young people.
Affirmation and motivation
Asset building affirms parents’ important role in their children’s lives. It reminds them that what they do makes a big difference. Furthermore, it motivates them to stay actively involved in their children’s lives throughout childhood and adolescence, rather than assuming that teenagers no longer need their parents when they are becoming independent.
A positive perspective
Many parent educators say they struggle to get parents to come to workshops because parents are afraid of being labeled as having problems with their kids. By emphasizing the positive things all young people need, asset building can break down the barriers and reduce the stigma of seeking support and guidance.
Partners in parenting
Because asset building seeks to nurture a shared responsibility in the community for raising the youngest generation, this approach promises to provide families with a supportive, caring network of partners in raising their children. In short, it begins to re-create the kind of informal community that previous generations of parents depended on for support and guidance.
Adapted from Parenting with a Purpose: A Positive Approach to Raising Confident, Caring Youth, by Dean Feldmeyer and Eugene C. Roehkepartain. Copyright © 1995 by Search Institute, 877-240-7251 ext. 1. All rights reserved.
