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Religious Awards and
the 40 Developmental Assets for Youth* |
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External Assets - Name and
Definition |
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How Religious Awards Help
Build Assets |
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Support
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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 nonparent 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 young person succeed in
school. |
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1. Awards encourage family
involvement in service projects.
2. Awards encourage parents to share their faith with
their children.
3. Participants work with counselors and clergy.
4. Participants can be caring neighbors by doing service
projects for people in their neighborhood |
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Empowerment |
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7. Community values youth -
Young person perceives that adults in the community value
youth.
8. Youth as resources - Young people are given useful
roles in the community.
9. Service to others - Young person serves in the
community one hour or more per week.
10. Safety – Young person feels safe at home, at school,
and in the neighborhood. |
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7. Participants are nurtured
by troop leaders and church leaders and are presented with
their awards in front of their congregation
8. Awards require children to design meaningful service
projects
9. Awards encourage children to design service projects
for their community
10. Classes are often held in neighborhood congregations
which are safe and nurturing environments |
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Boundaries and Expectations |
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11. Family boundaries -
Family has clear rules and consequences and monitors the
young person’s whereabouts.
12. School boundaries - School provides clear rules and
consequences.
13. Neighborhood boundaries - Neighbors take
responsibility for monitoring young people’s behavior.
14. Adult role models - Parent(s) and other adults model
positive, responsible behavior.
15. Positive peer influence – Young person’s best friends
model responsible behavior.
16. High expectations - Parent(s) and teachers encourage
the young person to do well. |
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11-12 Award programs provide
opportunities to discuss respect and obedience (not only
HOW we should behave but WHY).
14. Counselors and mentors are members of the faith
community and serve as role models for the youth
participants
15. Awards provide the opportunity to discuss friendship
and how to exert positive peer pressure
16. Counselors, mentors, and clergy have high expectations
for young people. |
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Constructive Use of Time |
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17. Creative activities -
Young person spends three or more hours per week in
lessons or practice in music, theater, or other arts.
18. Youth programs - Young person spends three or more
hours per week in sports, clubs, or organizations at
school or in the community.
19. Religious community - Young person spends one or more
hours per week in activities in a religious institution.
20. Time at home - Young person is out with friends “with
nothing special to do,” two or fewer nights per week. |
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17. Awards encourage the
creative expression of faith through music, drama and art
18. Awards encourage involvement in scouting programs.
Emblems are worn on official uniforms
19. Awards encourage participation in worship services and
other areas of congregational life
20. Awards require independent work at home |
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Internal Assets – Name and Definition |
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Commitment to Learning |
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21. Achievement motivation -
Young person is motivated to do well in school.
22. School engagement - Young person is actively engaged
in learning.
23. Homework - Young person reports doing at least one
hour of homework every school day.
24. Bonding to school - Young person cares about her or
his school.
25. Reading for pleasure - Young person reads for pleasure
three or more hours per week. |
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21-25 Awards require a great
deal of motivation. The motivation and satisfaction can
spill over in other areas of recipient’s life. |
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Positive Values |
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26. Caring - Young person
places high value on helping other people.
27. Equality and social justice - Young person places high
value on promoting equality and reducing hunger and
poverty.
28. Integrity - Young person acts on convictions and
stands up for her or his beliefs.
29. Honesty - Young person “tells the truth even when it
is not easy.”
30. Responsibility - Young person accepts and takes
personal responsibility.
31. Restraint - Young person believes it is important not
to be sexually active or to use alcohol or other drugs.
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26. Awards require
participants to seek ways to help others.
27. Awards challenge the participants’ way of thinking.
Participants are encouraged to meet the real needs of
people.
28. Awards require that participants write a “statement of
belief” and an action plan for their future.
29-31. Honesty, responsibility, and restraint are the
outgrowth of a religious life style. |
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Social Competencies |
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32. Planning and decision
making - Young person knows how to plan ahead and make
choices.
33. Interpersonal competence - Young person has empathy,
sensitivity, and friendship skills.
34. Cultural competence - Young person has knowledge of
and comfort with people of different
cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds.
35. Resistance skills - Young person can resist negative
peer pressure and dangerous situations.
36. Peaceful conflict resolution - Young person seeks to
resolve conflict nonviolently. |
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32. Award programs encourage
young people to make choices and plan ahead in order to
complete the requirements
33. Participants who enroll in religious award classes
will meet new friends.
34. Participants are challenged to expand their concept of
friends to include others.
35. Award programs help build resistance skills by
providing opportunities to talk about how faith impacts
our choices
36. Awards give participants opportunities to talk about
how and why they should get along with others.
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Positive Identity |
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37. Personal power - Young
person feels he or she has control over “things that
happen to me.”
38. Self-esteem - Young person reports having a high
self-esteem.
39. Sense of purpose - Young person reports that “my life
has a purpose.”
40. Positive view of personal future - Young person is
optimistic about her or his personal future. |
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37. Participants learn of an
“inner strength” that comes from God.
38. Participants learn that God loves them. Participants
are honored by their congregation in a special ceremony.
39. Participants learn that God has a purpose for their
lives.
40. God’s love and the support of a faith community give
young people optimism for their future. |
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*40 Developmental Assets.
Copyright © 1997 by Search Institute, 700 S. Third Street,
Suite 210, Minneapolis, MN 55415; 800-888-7828;
http://www.search-institute.org |
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