SUGGESTIONS FOR BUILDING ASSETS

Asset #13- Neighborhood Boundaries

(Neighbors share with parents the responsibility for monitoring young people's behavior)

To Build Asset # 13 Parents and Extended Family Can . . .

*Remember that you are a role model for others.

* Have contracts with other parents for things like no alcohol at teen parties. Include agreements about sharing information with each other that you feel should be shared.

* Let your neighbors know you want to be contacted if your child misbehaves! Otherwise, people might not think it's OK to call.

* Know the laws of your community and follow them. If you don't like a law, work to change it — rather than just breaking it. 

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46% of youth surveyed by Search Institute have this asset in their lives.*

*Based on Search Institute surveys of almost 100,000 6th to 12th grade youth throughout the United States

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Insights on Assets

The effects of neighbors and neighborhoods on the development of successful youth has long intrigued researchers, policy makers, and community leaders. They often wonder, "Are neighbors important? Does a neighborhood impact youth? If so, how?" The research that supports this asset #13 is based upon environments where neighbors lookout for the well-being and behaviors of all young people living in the area. To date, most of the research has examined the negative effects of social disintegration and poverty. However, there is increasing amounts of research that supports the positive effects on youth of the percentage of educated residents and access to appropriate positive adult role models in the neighborhood. What are you doing to build a neighborhood where you live? 

News You Can Use

Conventional wisdom holds, and social policies are devised on the belief that the quality of parenting depends on the information, skills, and resources which individuals bring to the childrearing task. But the evidence now shows that neighborhood norms profoundly affect how parents raise their children. When the community is dangerous and disorderly, adults establish fewer connections with others, resulting in less supervision of children "Normal" child rearing may be unachievable or even unwise for those trapped in these environments. What are the norms of the community within which you live? Which of the behaviors and attitudes of your community support youth? How can you build upon those?

While the world we live in is not understandable, it is embraceable. We are able to embrace the world when we embrace one of its beings. This is why we need community; why we need each other. Because by embracing others, we connect to the entire world.                    anonymous