Giving Leeds youth a voice

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Giving Leeds youth a voice

• What matters to youth from grades 7 - 12

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Developmental Assets A Profile of Our Youth

• Leeds County Schools
• Grades 7 -12
• Search Institute Profile of Student Life
  Attitudes and Behaviours

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Participating schools

• Athens DHS
• Brockville CIVS
• Gananoque SS
• Rideau DHS
• Thousand Islands SS

• Commonwealth PS
• Lyn/Tincap PS
• Prince of Wales PS
• Toniata PS
• Westminster PS

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Who was surveyed

• Randomly selected grade 7-12 students
• 1107
• Gender
• Females 576
• Males 523

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Breakdown by grades

• Grade 7 96
• Grade 8 123
• Grade 9 287
• Grade 10 220
• Grade 11 201
• Grade 12 177
• Total 1107

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Leeds county profile
4
21
25
49
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Our community profile
4
22
35
49
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A visual comparison??
L G
Leeds
Note the significant differences!!
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We believe that..

• young people are valuable resources

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Investigating our community profileWhat did the
survey show???

• Percentage of Youth reporting each specific
  asset
• How do our youth see themselves and their world???

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External assets.

• SUPPORT young people with care and attention.
• EMPOWER them to use their abilities to
• help others.
• Set reasonable BOUNDARIES AND have high
  EXPECTATIONS.
• Help them find activities that make CONSTRUCTIVE
  USE OF their TIME.

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SUPPORT young people with care and attention.

• 1 Family support 65 65
• 2 Positive family communication 29 31
• 3 Other adult relationships 43 41
• 4 Caring neighbourhood 37 36
• 5 Caring School climate 28 26
• 6 Parent involvement in schooling 20 20

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EMPOWER them to use their abilities to help
others.

• 7 - Community Values Youth 18 18
• 8 Youth as resources 24 23
• 9 Service to others 51 49
• 10 Safety 49 51

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Set reasonable BOUNDARIES AND have high
EXPECTATIONS.

• 11 Family boundaries 35 34
• 12 School boundaries 40 39
• 13 Neighbourhood boundaries 38 39
• 14 Adult role models 23 23
• 15 Positive peer influence 48 48
• 16 High expectations 44 43

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Help them find activities that make CONSTRUCTIVE
USE OF their time.

• 17 Creative activities 16 16
• 18 Youth programs 58 57
• 19 Religious community 24 24
• 20 Time at home 49 50

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Internal assets

• Spark their COMMITMENT TO LEARNING.
• Guide them toward a life based on POSITIVE
  VALUES.
• Help the develop SOCIAL COMPETENCIES and life
  skills.
• Celebrate their uniqueness and affirm their
  POSITIVE IDENTITY.

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Spark their COMMITMENT TO LEARNING.

• 21 - Achievement motivation 58 58
• 22 - School engagement 55 54
• 23 - Homework 35 36
• 24 Bonding to school 58 55
• 25 Reading for pleasure 28 28

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Guide them toward a life based on POSITIVE
VALUES.

• 26 Caring 44 42
• 27 Equality and social justice 46 45
• 28 Integrity 66 65
• 29 Honesty 65 65
• 30 Responsibility 57 58
• 31 Restraint 23 23

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Help the develop SOCIAL COMPETENCIES and life
skills.

• 32 Planning and decision-making 25 25
• 33 Interpersonal competence 42 39
• 34 Cultural competence 35 33
• 35 Resistance skills 35 35
• 36 - Peaceful conflict resolution 38 38

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Celebrate their uniqueness and affirm their
POSITIVE IDENTITY.

• 37 Personal power 40 40
• 38 Self-esteem 44 44
• 39 Sense of purpose 60 59
• 40 Positive view of personal future 75 74

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Average assets/ community
17.9
17.8
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Asset profile by grade .
16.7
17.7
16.3
16.4
17.6
18.9
14.6
17.9 18.9 17.1 17.1
16.2 15.0 16.3
Leeds Grenville Counties combined data
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Why assets are important

• They do
• make a difference
• in the lives of young people
• They are the keys to success

The following information is based on data from
both Leeds and Grenville counties.
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Thriving behaviours

• School success
• Informal helping
• Valuing diversity
• Maintaining good health
• Exhibiting leadership
• Resisting danger
• Impulse control
• Overcoming adversity

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The Survey shows the connection between thriving
() behaviours and the number of assets a youth
has
Of B e h a v i o u r s
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High Risk behaviours(24 -- Identified by the
survey )

• Alcohol use
• Binge drinking
• Smoking
• Smokeless tobacco
• Inhalants
• Marijuana
• Other illicit drugs
• Drinking and driving
• Riding with a driver who has been drinking
• Sexual intercourse
• Shoplifting
• Vandalism

• Trouble with police
• Hitting someone
• Hurting someone
• Use of a weapon
• Group fighting
• Carrying a weapon for protection
• Threatening physical harm
• Skipping school
• Gambling
• Eating disorders
• Depression
• Attempted suicide

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The Survey shows the connection between high risk
behaviours and the number of assets a youth has
Of High Risk B e h a v i o u r s
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From awareness to action

• Regardless of town size or geography, youth
  typically
• Receive too little support through sustained and
  positive intergenerational relationships
• Lack opportunities for leadership and involvement
• Disengage from youth-serving programs in the
  community
• Experience inconsistent and unarticulated
  boundaries
• Feel disconnected from their community
• Miss the formation of social competencies and
  positive values

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So what???

• We will continue to see too many young people who
  are susceptible to risk taking and negative
  pressure, drawn to less desirable sources of
  belonging, and ill-equipped to become the next
  generation of parents, workers, leaders, and
  citizens.
• What needs to change??

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What needs to change??

• Refocus emphasis of well-intentioned youth
  development programs from attacking the
  consequences of asset depletion
• To placing energy into rebuilding the asset
  foundation for youth
• Ultimately, rebuilding and strengthening the
  developmental infrastructure in a community is
  not a program run by professionals. It is a

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movement

• That creates a community-wide sense of common
  purpose, places residents and their leaders on
  the same team moving in the same direction, and
  creates a culture in which all residents are
  expected, by virtue of their membership in the
  community, to promote the positive development of
  youth.
• Developmental Assets A profile of youth in
  Leeds Grenville
• Survey Report, Search Institute

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Promoting Developmental Assets

• Assets are cumulative or additive
• The more the better
• Research shows the more assets, the less likely
  to participate in risk taking behaviours and more
  likely to be involved in thriving behaviours

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PRINCIPLES

• All children and youth need assets.
• Relationships are key.
• Everyone can build assets.
• Building assets is an ongoing process.
• Asset building requires consistent messages.
• Duplication and repetition are good and important.

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Taking Action

• Establish long-term goals and perspective
• Mobilize the public
• Think intergenerationally
• Expand the reach of family education
• Support and expand current asset-building efforts
• Strengthen socializing systems
• Empower youth to contribute
• Elevate the importance of service
• Provide places to grow
• Advocate for quality opportunities for young
  people
• Begin public dialogue
• Developmental Assets A profile of youth in
  Leeds Grenville
• Survey Report, Search Institute