Building Assets

Support

1. Family Support | Family life provides high levels of love and support. 

2. Positive Family Communication | Young person and her or his parent(s) communicate positively, and young person is willing to seek advice and counsel from parents. 

3. Other Adult Relationships | Young person receives support from three or more non-parent adults. 

4. Caring Neighborhood | Young person experiences caring neighbors. 

5. Caring School Climate | School provides a caring, encouraging environment. 

6. Parent Involvement in Schooling | Parent(s) are actively involved in helping the child succeed in school.

Empowerment

1. Community Values Youth | Young person perceives that adults in the community value youth. 

2. Youth as Resources | Young people are given useful roles in the community. 

3. Service to Others | Young person serves in the community one hour or more per week. 

4. Safety | Young person feels safe at home, school, and in the neighborhood. 

Boundaries & Expectations

1. Family Boundaries | Family has clear rules and consequences and monitors the young person’s whereabouts. 

2. School Boundaries | School provides clear rules and consequences. 

3. Neighborhood Boundaries | Neighbors take responsibility for monitoring young people’s behavior. 

4. Adult Role Models | Parent(s) and other adults model positive, responsible behavior. 

5. Positive Peer Influence | Young person's best friends model responsible behavior. 

6. High Expectations | Both parent(s) and teachers encourage the young person to do well.

Constructive Use of Time

1. Creative Activities | Young person spends three or more hours per week in lessons or practice in music, theater, or other arts.

2. Youth Programs | Young person spends three or more hours per week in sports, clubs, or organizations at school and/or in community organizations.

3. Religious Community | Young person spends one hour or more per week in activities in a religious institution.

4. Time at Home | Young person is out with friends "with nothing special to do" two or fewer nights per week. 

Commitment to Learning

1. Achievement Motivation | Young person is motivated to do well in school. 

2. School Engagement | Young person is actively engaged in learning. 

3. Homework | Young person reports doing at least one hour of homework every school day. 

4. Bonding to School | Young person cares about her or his school.

5. Reading for Pleasure | Young person reads for pleasure three or more hours per week.

Positive Values

1. Caring | Young Person places high value on helping other people. 

2. Equality and Social Justice | Young person places high value on promoting equality and reducing hunger and poverty. 

3. Integrity | Young person acts on convictions and stands up for her or his beliefs. 

4. Honesty | Young person "tells the truth even when it is not easy." 

5. Responsibility | Young person accepts and takes personal responsibility. 

6. Restraint | Young person believes it is important not to be sexually active or to use alcohol or other drugs.

Social Competencies

1. Planning and Decision Making | Young person knows how to plan ahead and make choices. 

2. Interpersonal Competence | Young person has empathy, sensitivity, and friendship skills. 

3. Cultural Competence | Young person has knowledge of and comfort with people of different cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds. 

4. Resistance Skills | Young person can resist negative peer pressure and dangerous situations. 

5. Peaceful Conflict Resolution | Young person seeks to resolve conflict nonviolently. 

Positive Identity

1. Personal Power | Young person feels he or she has control over "things that happen to me." 

2. Self-Esteem | Young person reports having a high self-esteem. 

3. Sense of Purpose | Young person reports that "my life has a purpose." 

4. Positive View of Personal Future | Young person is optimistic about her or his personal future.