RYASAP

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2005 PROFILE OF YOUTH TOWN OF MONROE
Presented By RYASAP 2470 Fairfield
Avenue Bridgeport, CT 06605 In cooperation
with The Search Institute Minneapolis, MN
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2005 PROFILE OF YOUTH OVERVIEW

• 331 Youth Surveyed, a 15 sample of youth
  Grades 7-12
• in Monroe
• Participating School Districts Bridgeport,
  Fairfield, Monroe,
• Stratford and Trumbull
• Racial/Ethnic Breakdown
• 87 White
• 1 African American
• 5 Latino
• 5 Multi-Racial
• 2 Asian
• 0 Native American

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HIGHLIGHTS 2001 - 2004

• Average number of assets decreased from 20.4 in
  2001 to
• 18.3 in 2005. 31 of 40 developmental assets
  decreased from 2001
• to 2005 that included 19/20 External Assets
  (Those controlled by
• adults in the community)
• On the plus side, young people are using less
  alcohol (- 5) and
• marijuana (- 7) and inhalant use remained the
  same at 8 but
• with an unusual twist that young people in
  10th and 11th grades
• used more inhalants than 7th and 8th grade
  students.
• As far as the developmental assets are
  concerned, young peoples
• Values and View of Their Future remained
  strong. However, there are
• several areas of concern Parent Involvement
  in Schools (- 14),
• Service to Others (- 11), Youth Utilized as
  Resources (- 11), School
• Engagement (- 11), Family Communication (-
  10), Community
• Valuing Youth (- 9), and Homework at least
  one hour/evening (-6)

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DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS EXTERNAL ASSETS Positive
experiences and support a young person receives
from formal and informal connections to the
community

• SUPPORT
• Family support
• Positive family
• communication
• 3. Other adult relationships
• 4. Caring neighborhood
• 5. Caring school climate
• 6. Parent involvement in
• schooling
• EMPOWERMENT
• Community values youth
• Youth utilized as resources
• Service to others
• Safety youth feels safe

BOUNDARIES AND EXPECTATIONS
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DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS INTERNAL ASSETS Things a
community and family nurture within youth so
they can contribute to their own development
COMMITMENT TO LEARNING 1. Achievement
motivation 2. School engagement 3. Homework
(1 hour/night) 4. Bonding to school 5.
Reading for pleasure POSITIVE VALUES 1.
Caring and helping 2. Equality and social
justice 3. Integrity 4. Honesty 5.
Responsibility 6. Restraint
SOCIAL COMPETENCIES 1. Planning and
decision-making 2. Interpersonal competence 3.
Cultural competence 4. Resistance skills 5.
Peaceful conflict resolution POSITIVE
IDENTITY 1. Personal power 2.
Self-esteem 3. Sense of purpose 4. Positive
view of personal future
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ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT ASSETS

• Individuals do not need the entire range of
  assets to thrive.
• Combinations of assets across domains reflect
  equally
• positive adolescent development.
• Having more assets is better than having a few.
  Having strong
• assets in one category can offset weak assets
  in another.
• However, life is easier to manage if one has
  assets in all domains
• Continued exposure to positive experiences,
  settings and people,
• as well as opportunities to gain and refine
  life skills, supports
• young people in the acquisition and growth of
  these assets

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ASSETS 1998-2005 TOWN OF MONROE
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ASSETS BY GRADE LEVEL 1998-2005
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SUBSTANCE USE/ABUSE BEHAVIOR 1998-2005

• Used alcohol once in the last 30 days from 49
  to 33 to 28
• Got drunk once or more in the last two weeks
  from 34 to 24 to 16
• Smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days from 32
  to 13 to 11 or smokes
• daily from 17 to 4 to 6
• Sniffed inhalants in the last 30 days from 11
  to 7 to 8
• Used marijuana in the last 12 months 23 to 20
  to 13
• Drove after drinking in the last 12 months from
  16 to 10 to 8 or rode
• with someone who has been drinking or drove
  after drinking
• 3 or more times in the last 12 months from
  21 to 14 to 12
• Inhalant use in 10th and 11th grades (15) was
  much higher in Monroe
• than national or other Greater Bridgeport
  data (6).

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CHANGES IN RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR 1998-2005

• Sexual intercourse (ever) from 24 in 1998 to
  16in 01 to 15 in 05
• Has been involved in 3 or more incidents of
  shoplifting,
• trouble with the police or vandalism in the
  last 12 months
• from 28 to 20 to 12
• Violent behavior in the last 12 months
• - Hit someone from 32 to 30 to 32
• - Physically hurt someone at 11 in 98 and 01
  to 10 in 05
• - Used a weapon from 4 and 2 in 01 and 05
• - Been in a group fight from 22 to 13 to 19
• - Carried a weapon for protection from 10 to 7
  to 13
• - Threatened physical harm from 35 to 21 to
  28
• School truancy from 33 to 13 to 21
• Gambling (1 or more times in last year)from 44
  to 26 to 35
• Engaged in bulimic or anorexic behavior from 17
  to 13 to 15
• Depression from 13 to 9 to 15
• Attempted suicide from 11 to 9 to 10

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YOUTH REPORTING AT-RISK BEHAVIORS 1998-2005
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YOUTH REPORTING PREDICTIVE DEFICITS Those
behaviors that make young people most at-risk of
future problems
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CHANGES IN DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS 1998-2005 EXTERNA
L ASSETS

• Highlights 19 of 20 External Assets (Those
  controlled by adults in the
• Community) decreased and 13 of 20 decreased by 5
  or more.
• Support
• Family Support was high with 72 getting along
  well with their
• parents 81 saying they get support when they
  need it and 85 feeling
• their parents often tell them they love them.
• Major decreases in Parent Involvement in
  Schooling from 36 in 2001
• to 22 in 2005 Positive Family Communication
  from 39 to 29 and
• Other Adult Relationships from 50 to 40.
• Empowerment
• Only 15 of young people feel supported by their
  community and only
• 19 feel they are used as resources by their
  schools, family and
• community
• There was a major decrease in young people doing
  service for their
• community from 50 in 2001 to 39 in 2005.

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EXTERNAL ASSETS Continued

• Boundaries and Rules
• Over 72 of young people feel positively
  influenced by their peers. This
• asset tends to have higher influence among
  teens as far as partaking in
• risky behaviors.
• School and Community Boundaries remained strong
  while Family
• Boundaries decreased from 47 to 40 with
  fewer young people feeling
• they will be punished for their behavior.
• 49 of students felt that their teachers have
  high expectations for them while
• 85 feel their parents have high expectations
  for them in school.
• Constructive Use of Time
• Young people are less active in their community
  youth programs (74 to
• 63) Religious Community (56 to 51) and
  Creative activities (22 to 17)

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SUPPORT
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EMPOWERMENT
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BOUNDARIES AND RULES
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CONSTRUCTIVE USE OF TIME
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CHANGES IN DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS 1998-2005 INTERNAL
ASSETS

• Highlights 1998-2005
• Commitment to Learning
• There was a decrease in all areas of school
  involvement
• Achievement Motivation from 64 to 76 to 67
  School
• Engagement from 53 to 69 to 58 Bonding to
  School from
• 46 to 61 to 54 and students doing at least
  one hour of
• homework from 54 to 60 to 54.
• Positive Values
• Positive Values of Integrity (69) Honesty
  (63) and Responsibility
• (58) remained strong.
• Equality/Social Justice 47 feel that reducing
  hunger and poverty
• in the world is important 67 feel all people
  should be treated fairly
• and 70 would speak up for equality between
  different peoples.

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INTERNAL ASSETS Continued

• Social Competencies
• Young peoples Resistance Skills increased from
  38 to 42 to 45
• 53 of young people would push back or try to
  hurt another person who
• physically hurt them rather than settle it
  peacefully.
• 74 of young people say they respect the values
  and beliefs of young
• people who are of a different race or culture
  from them.
• Positive identity
• 73 of young people have a Positive View of
  their Personal Future
• There are major differences between boys and
  girls as far as high Self
• Esteem (57 of boys 43 of girls) Personal
  Power (50 of boys 42
• of girls) and Sense of Purpose (68 of boys
  57 of girls)

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COMMITMENT TO LEARNING
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POSITIVE VALUES
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SOCIAL COMPETENCIES
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POSITIVE IDENTITY
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STRONGEST DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS

• Positive View of Personal Future 73
• Integrity 69
• Family Support 68
• Achievement Motivation 67
• Youth Programs 63
• Honesty 63
• Positive Peer Influence 62
• Sense of Purpose 62
• Bonding to School 61
• School Engagement 58

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WEAKEST DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS

• Community Values Youth 15
• Creative Activities 17
• Youth Utilized as Resources 19
• Parent Involvement in Decision-Making 22
• Caring School Climate 25
• Planning and Decision-Making 26
• Reading For Pleasure 26
• Positive Family Communication 29
• Positive Adult Role Models 31

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REASONS FOR CHANGES A Move Toward Community
Building
There are both positive and negative indicators
that contribute to the changes from 2001 to
2005. POSITIVE NEGATIVE

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• Continuation and expansion of community building
  and youth as resources
• approaches such as GAMES, the successful
  teen gambling prevention program.
• Focus on development and strengthening of
  particularly weak assets such as service to
  others youth utilized as resources by families,
  schools and communities community valuing youth
  parental involvement in young peoples education
  and community support for young people.
• Focus on the positive trends of alcohol, tobacco
  and marijuana use reductions to publicize that
  young people are becoming more responsible and
  should be involved to greater degrees in town
  decision making.
• More research should be conducted to explain
  young peoples increase in inhalant use in later
  grades.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• Peaceful conflict resolution and mediation
  programs need to established
• or expanded so as to reduce the number of
  violent responses to
• settling disputes among young people.
• Youth/adult teams should be developed to educate
  other young people,
• parents, educators and other adults in the
  community about young
• peoples assets and strengths as well as their
  needs.
• Replication of RYASAPs very successful Finding
  Her Voice program in
• order to reduce gender differences and increase
  self esteem and sense
• of personal power among young females.