In 2001, the Lutheran Brotherhood and the Search Institute sponsored a Gallup Poll of 1,425 adults on their beliefs about what is important for kids and what their interactions with children and teenagers outside of their own families were actually like. The Search Institute had already identified research findings on what is important in adult-child relationships. The good news is that most American adults, regardless of race, religion, or socioeconomic level, agree that these interactions are important. Based on the survey, though, the average adult only participates in two of the nineteen actions: encouraging school success and expecting respect for adults. The full report on this research can be found at http://www.search-institute.org/sites/default/files/a/Teen%2BVoice%2B2010%2BOverview%2B06-28-10.pdf
If you have not yet had a chance to review the Search Institute’s list of developmental assets, take this opportunity to determine which assets your own child has. The lists are broken down into four overlapping age groups (3-5, 5-9, 8-12, and 12-18). You can go to the following site and download the list that is appropriate for your child: http://www.search-institute.org/developmental-assets/lists.
On one of its web pages, the Search Institute reports:
Across the past two decades, Search Institute and others have shown
that the number and intensity of high quality relationships in young people’s
lives is linked to a broad range of positive outcomes, including increased
student engagement, improved academic motivation, better grades, higher
aspirations for the future, civic engagement, more frequent participation in
college-preparatory classes and activities, and a variety of other individual
outcomes. We also know that high-quality relationships are characterized as
caring, supportive, meaningful, reciprocal, and resulting in young people’s
sense of agency, belonging, and competence.
Since the Gallup Poll suggests that the personal connections our children need are not generally available in the community, it is particularly incumbent on families and schools to provide opportunities for those connections. To learn more you can also go to the Research tab at the top of the Search Institute website to review their work on Developmental Relationships. Although useful to everyone, the relationship research may be especially informative to those of you whose children want a personal connection before they feel motivated to achieve.
A review of the Search Institute website may help you determine how to add to your own child’s cache of developmental assets. Just as important, the information on the site provides the opportunity to open a number of important conversations with your child. We invite you to share your experiences exploring developmental assets with your child by adding a comment on this post. After all, your experience may provide an important insight to another parent.
If you have not yet had a chance to review the Search Institute’s list of developmental assets, take this opportunity to determine which assets your own child has. The lists are broken down into four overlapping age groups (3-5, 5-9, 8-12, and 12-18). You can go to the following site and download the list that is appropriate for your child: http://www.search-institute.org/developmental-assets/lists.
On one of its web pages, the Search Institute reports:
Across the past two decades, Search Institute and others have shown
that the number and intensity of high quality relationships in young people’s
lives is linked to a broad range of positive outcomes, including increased
student engagement, improved academic motivation, better grades, higher
aspirations for the future, civic engagement, more frequent participation in
college-preparatory classes and activities, and a variety of other individual
outcomes. We also know that high-quality relationships are characterized as
caring, supportive, meaningful, reciprocal, and resulting in young people’s
sense of agency, belonging, and competence.
Since the Gallup Poll suggests that the personal connections our children need are not generally available in the community, it is particularly incumbent on families and schools to provide opportunities for those connections. To learn more you can also go to the Research tab at the top of the Search Institute website to review their work on Developmental Relationships. Although useful to everyone, the relationship research may be especially informative to those of you whose children want a personal connection before they feel motivated to achieve.
A review of the Search Institute website may help you determine how to add to your own child’s cache of developmental assets. Just as important, the information on the site provides the opportunity to open a number of important conversations with your child. We invite you to share your experiences exploring developmental assets with your child by adding a comment on this post. After all, your experience may provide an important insight to another parent.