Individuals

Organizations

ASSET CATEGORY

ALL ADULTS CAN

PARENTS CAN

 YOUTH CAN:

YOUTH ORGS. CAN

SCHOOLS CAN

CHURCHES CAN

BUSINESSES CAN

Support

Help youth feel affirmed, loved, and accepted.

* Volunteer as a club leader, coach, or mentor for young people.

* Make eye contact with and say “hi” to children and teenagers in your neighborhood. Get to know their names.

 * Report any concerns you have about your children or teenagers feeling uncomfortable or unsafe in school.

* Express your love – verbally and nonverbally – to your children and teenagers often.

 * Make other youth feel welcome in groups you are part of, including classes, youth groups, and friends.

* Introduce other kids in your neighborhood to the neighborhood adults you know.

* Coordinate activity schedules with nearby schools, so youth don’t have to choose between school and out-of-school events.

* Have teachers personally contact each family (in addition to parent-teacher conferences) at least once during the school year.

* Encourage each adult member to get to know at least 5 youth in the congregation.

*Include and encourage young people to participate in all congregation-wide activities.

 * Develop family-friendly policies that encourage parents to be active in their children’s lives.

* If you run a neighborhood business, make it a place where young people know they can com for help in an emergency.

Empowerment

Help youth feel safe and valued.

 * Challenge people who say things that reflect negative stereotypes of youth.

 * Give your children opportunities to be responsible for family activities.

 * Identify things that need to change in your community, then get involved.

* Question adults when they negatively stereotype youth.

 * Involve youth in planning and leading activities and programs.

* Make service to others a part of ongoing programming.

 * Integrate service-learning into the school curriculum.

* Take steps to ensure that the school is a safe place to learn.

 * Involve youth in leadership and planning in the congregation, including youth, service, and social action activities and programs.

* Regularly notice and celebrate young people’s contributions to the congregation and community.

 * Recognize youth who contribute to the community.

* Provide mentoring or internship opportunities for young people.

Boundaries & Expectations

Youth benefit from consistently maintained and articulated boundaries and high expectations.

 * Model responsible behavior for young people.

* Talk to young people about what you expect before they’ve crossed a boundary they didn’t know about or understand.

 * Regularly renegotiate family rules with teenagers so the rules are age appropriate, consistently and fairly enforced.

* Let neighbors know that you encourage them to respectfully confront inappropriate behavior by your child.

 * Be a positive influence on your friends; don’t go along when they start to take unhealthy risks or to behave in a negative way.

* Talk with your family about how to set boundaries that you can respect and accept.

 * Affirm and honor the healthy choices that youth make.

* Set clear ground rules and expectations for program participation.

 * Involve youth in establishing clear boundaries for appropriate behavior at school.

* Challenge students to have high standards for themselves.

 * Set clear expectations about behaviors during congregational activities.

 * If you run a neighborhood business, set behavioral boundaries with young people who frequent your business.

* Set high standards for youth who work for you.

Constructive Use of Time

Youth participate in a wide array of activities.

 *Share your talents by teaching or mentoring a young person in creative activities.

*Offer to provide young people with transportation to and from activities or lessons.

 *Carpool with other families so that youth can be involved in community activities.

*Encourage participation in religious, creative, and athletic activities by modeling active involvement.

 *Participate actively in at least one group or team or find a creative activity that appeals to you – music, theater, painting, or other arts.

 *Offer arts education as part of available program options.

*Include youth workers from other sectors, such a school and faith communities, on community-wide youth councils and task forces.

 *Set aside one evening a week as a “family night” when school activities are not scheduled.

 * Recognize student who excel in such areas as scholarship, arts, music, sports, and service to the community.

 * Sponsor clubs, sports teams, service projects, and other constructive activities for young people.

* Encourage employees to volunteer in youth programs or in schools.

Commitment to Learning

Youth develop intellectual curiosity and skills for gaining new knowledge.

 * Volunteer as a tutor at school.

* Donate high-quality books to libraries, child-care programs, and other places people spend time.

 * Stay in contact with teachers about your child’s progress; don’t wait for a report card

* Turn off the television and limit hours on after-school jobs.

 *Start a book club with friends.

*Work in

your school to promote a positive school spirit.

 * Encourage youth to apply what they’re learning in school to the learning that occurs in your programming.

* Expect youth to complete school homework as a condition for program participation.

 * Expect students to do well and encourage parents to expect the same.

* Encourage reading and learning beyond the school’s curriculum.

 * Make reading a regular part of youth programming.

* Coordinate youth activities so they don’t interfere with homework or other school activities.

 *Channel some of your community contributions to scholarships; donate books, computers, art supplies, musical instruments, or other learning-enrichment tools to schools and other educational organizations.

Positive Values

Widely shared values provide youth with “internal compasses” to guide their choices.

 * Model responsibility, compassion, and integrity for youth.

*Tell youth why you do what you do and own up when you make a mistake.

 * Help your teenager learn to talk about his or her beliefs – then listen.

* Regularly do service projects together as a family.

 * Form a team with others in your school and visit a hospital or nursing home to read to or visit with residents.

* Find friends who reinforce positive values such as honesty and integrity.

 * Have clear expectations that boys and girls will relate respectfully in all activities.

* Give opportunities for youth to act on their values and beliefs.

 * Work with parents and community members to identify values to reinforce through the school curriculum.

* Highlight the common values as stake in discussions of health and personal responsibility.

 * Through trips, speakers, service projects, and simulations, make community and world issues personally relevant to youth.

* Educate youth about alcohol and other drugs, sexuality, and other issues.

 * Create an employee volunteering effort, and encourage employees to include their families.

* Model integrity, honesty, responsibility, and caring for the youth who work for you.

Social Competencies

Give youth the personal and interpersonal skills needed to deal with life’s opportunities, challenges and relationships.

 * Respect and affirm young people when they make good decisions and plan well.

* Help young people start conversations with people who are different from them.

 * Involve children in family decisions and planning.

* Give your child opportunities to get to know people from other backgrounds and cultures.

 * Put on a play for younger children about difficult situations they might encounter and how to handle them.

* Take time to build friendships with people who are different from you.

 * Watch how youth interact with each other to spot those who may need special help with friendship skills.

* Make sure programs are attuned to cultural, economic, and gender related variables that may affect how youth respond.

 * Challenge student to articulate the reasons behind their decisions.

* Build students’ skills in resolving conflicts peacefully.

 * Invite youth to express their beliefs, acknowledging their need to explore and question.

* Talk about the challenges and the rewards of maintaining relationships with people of different backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultures.

 *When you offer employee seminars on conflict resolution or planning and decision making, invite employees to bring their adolescents along.

*Include young people who are doing internships in your business in planning meetings.

Positive Identity

Give youth a sense of their own power direction worth, and promise.

 *Find at least one thing to praise a young person for each day.

*Encourage young people to set high standards for themselves.

 *Talk with your teenager about life goals, priorities, values, and dreams.

*Model mutual respect in the family; do not tolerate put-downs

 *Occasionally send a not to a friend affirming something he or she does well.

*Write one sentence that describes the kind of person you want to be; keep it with you or post it where you’ll see it daily.

 *Help youth discover and use their talents; focus more on their promise and possibility than their problems.

 *Include self-directed learning opportunities in the curriculum.

*Recognize and affirm the strengths of the young people of all backgrounds and cultural heritages in y our school

 *Provide opportunities for youth to talk about their vocational choices from a faith perspective.

 *Speak at school assemblies or other youth gatherings about the positive future you see for young people.

*Allow young people who work for you to have as much control as possible over the things that happen to them at work.

Reproduced with permission from Search Institute http://www.search-institute.org/