What Kids Need: Thriving and Sparks

What is Thriving?

Thriving is a new way to define and understand the dynamics of healthy development. The term “thriving” is used to complement the litany of negative outcomes, such as “avoiding alcohol and other drug abuse” and “avoiding teen pregnancy,” that have dominated federal, state, and foundation approaches to documenting the health of U.S. teenagers for decades.

As the conversation around thriving matures, it is expected that youth will begin to hear a new vocabulary about why they matter and why their healthy development is crucial for growing the health and vibrancy of the society in which they live.

What Makes the Idea of Thriving Unique?

Thriving is focused both on how an individual is “doing” at any given point in time as well as the path that he or she is taking into the future, and effectively takes into account both the current status of a young person and a process that unfolds over time.

Markers and Indicators of Thriving

The development of sound indicators of thriving has three purposes:

  • To provide U.S. communities with a more balanced view of adolescents and their capabilities and contributions.
  • To provide programs and agencies with an alternative set of metrics for evaluating program success (indeed, many youth development programs are designed with positive outcome intentions but forced to make their case by documenting their impact on risk behaviors).
  • To posit a set of positive indicators that could begin a national and international conversation about the kinds of constructive behavior, postures and commitments societies value and need in youth.

Search Institute has identified 15 markers that assist in quantifying the level of a young person’s thriving.
Learn more about the Thriving Indicators project

Visit our Research on Thriving and Sparks page to read about what we’ve found so far in our research.

What are Sparks?

The idea of a “spark” is one of the central metaphors in understanding thriving. A spark is an interest, talent, skill, asset, or dream that truly excites a young person and helps them discover their true passions, whether they be academic, relational, athletic, artistic, or intellectual—anything that inspires and motivates.

Sparks “light a fire” in a person. But sparks, by themselves, go can out if they are not nurtured with enough ongoing fuel to keep them alive and strengthen them. This fuel comes in the form of supportive peers and adults who help celebrate, affirm, and grow a young person’s sparks and are essential if those sparks are to help the young person truly thrive.

Why are Sparks Important?

Sparks help give young people joy and energy, meaning, purpose, and direction. Pursuing one’s sparks helps young people make positive choices about their activities and use of time, helps them develop their potential to the fullest, and helps them contribute to their families, schools, and communities right now, as young people. Young people with sparks lead more caring, responsible, healthy, and productive lives than those who do not have sparks.

Thriving and Sparks Resources

  • Visit www.ignitesparks.com to find more information on sparks and how you can help youth find them.