High school students in Luce, Chippewa, and Mackinac Counties want to help local young people make better decisions about alcohol, drugs and sex, and they are looking to adults around them to for help in gaining an understanding of what life is about as well as their place in the community.
Thirty-three young people gathered for the inaugural Eastern Upper Peninsula Youth Asset Summit at Lake Superior State University on September 24. During the summit, students reviewed the results of the “Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors” survey taken by 1,135 8th, 10th and 12th graders in Chippewa and Mackinac Counties in 2007 and by 271 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th graders in Luce County in 2006.
The survey measures the 40 Developmental Assets® identified by Search Institute® as strengths that all youth need for successful development. Research shows that the more assets young people possess, the more likely they are to grow up healthy, competent, and caring, and the less likely they are to engage in risky behaviors.
Using data from the survey, the students determined what they considered to be strengths and areas for concern for the three-county area. They set priorities for the next two years and brainstormed ways to strengthen their communities by building assets for local youth.
Summit participants identified the three assets they felt were strengths and worthy of celebration as Asset 10: Safety, Asset 12: School Boundaries, and Asset 37: Personal Power.
“What this means for the community is that young people in the Eastern U.P. agree that they feel loved and protected,” said Linda Remsburg, youth development associate with the Great Lakes Center for Youth Development, which co-hosted the event. “They also feel that their schools are clear about what they expect from them and that they have the power to shape their own futures. This is really good news.”
The three assets identified as areas of concern were Asset 7: Community Values Youth, Asset 31: Restraint, and Asset 39: Sense of Purpose.
“The fact that the attendees chose these three assets as things they specifically want to improve shows that young people have an intense desire to learn more about how to be mature, capable citizens of the community,” said Paul Olson, another GLCYD youth development associate. “Their message couldn’t be clearer. They’re saying that they want to learn to be more mature and they want adult help.”
Summit partners included the Youth and Family Sub-Committee of the Chippewa County Community Assessment Committee, MSU Extension offices in Luce, Chippewa, and Mackinac Counties, the Eastern U.P. Intermediate School District and Lake Superior State University.
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