Throughout your asset-building trainings with parents, provide opportunities for parents to share their opinions and experiences with one another. Not only will they learn from each other, they may also begin to form supportive relationships. In a study Search Institute conducted with the YMCA of the USA, the number one finding was that most parents felt isolated, even if they were married. Fifty three percent of parents said they don’t have any sources of support. One third of parents said they could name only one source of support, even though research consistently shows that parents are more effective when they have lots of practical help and encouragement.
Here are some other suggestions:
- Check out the list of Asset Building Affirmations for Parents
- If you have children of your own, share your personal experiences as an asset building parent.
- Give parents practical asset-building ideas and suggestions that they can easily put into practice.
- Include interactive activities such as the “Wall of Support”, page 42 from Best of Building Assets Together . In school presentations, I ask parents to brainstorm specific things that parents, school staff and community members can do to create a web of support that helps all young people feel valued, respected and challenged to achieve their full potential.
- If students attend the workshop with their families, make sure you have plenty of fun and interactive activities on hand. The book, The Best of Building Assets Together: Favorite Group Activities That Help Youth Succeed has wonderful handouts that you can have both students and parents complete individually and then share their responses. The book also comes with a CD-ROM that includes all the activities in Spanish.
As our school communities become more diverse, it is possible that you may have parents that speak a language other than English in your training session. It is a good idea to meet with the translator ahead of time and find out how the translation will be provided, i.e. translation units, in a certain area of the room, oral translation, etc. Make sure the translator has copies of the handouts ahead of time so he or she can become familiar with the asset terminology. Having a bilingual power point presentation not only makes linguistically diverse families feel validated, it also makes the translator’s job easier. Some asset terminology can be difficult to translate, especially when you have to do it “on the spot.” Search Institute has a number of valuable resources/handouts translated into Spanish. One of my favorites is the bilingual mini poster: Raising with Care poster: 50 WAYS to Help Your Whole Family Thrive.
To learn more about other resources that Search Institute has developed to help you share the asset message with parents in your community, visit Search Institute’s Web site at www.search-institute.org/families and MVParents.com.
