SUGGESTIONS FOR BUILDING ASSETS

Asset # 19- Religious Community

(Young people are involved in spiritual growth.)

To Build Asset # 19 Parents and Extended Family Can . . .

* Help your children develop a personal relationship with the Creator. Listen to their questions, show them that you believe, and help them understand that the Creator is everywhere.

* Volunteer to lead a religious youth group and recruit teens to be a part of the group.

* Pray together as a family, and let young people see how prayer works in their lives.

* Discuss your children's ideas about where your family will worship.

9 Reasons Youth Should Be Involved in a Faith Community

1. Religious communities reduce risky behaviors. Youth who are involved in a faith community are half as likely as those who aren't to use alcohol or other drugs, have sex too soon, or attempt suicide.

2. Religious communities teach values. This leads to responsible decision making and positive choices. Teens who say no to risky behaviors often do so because of their values.

3. Religious communities are intergenerational. Society is increasingly age-segmented. Your religious community may be one of the few places you go where you have regular contact with principled, caring adults.

4. Religious communities provide caring and support. You'll form relationships with religious education teachers, youth group leaders, peers, friends, relatives, and mentors who care about you and are there for you in good times and bad.

5. Religious communities have high expectations for their young people. They motivate teens to grow and mature, succeed and achieve.

6. Religious communities provide opportunities to be contributing members of a group. You'll participate in meaningful activities and perform useful roles. Along the way, you'll learn and practice problem solving, decision making, and goal setting.

7. Religious communities encourage service to others. All major faith traditions include an emphasis on service, and many congregations make service an integral part of their youth programs.

8. Religious communities nurture social competencies and leadership. Most give youth opportunities to lead, plan programs, become peer ministers, and care for younger children.

9. Religious communities offer security and stability. Over the course of your lifetime, many things will change. You'll graduate from schools, leave home to live on your own, move into and out of neighborhoods, and probably switch careers more than once. But no matter where you go, you can always find a community of people who share your faith and values. Most large religious organizations have congregations around the world. Your religious community can be a source of support, encouragement, and affirmation throughout your life.

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64% 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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Words of Encouragement

Research:

Faith communities are one of the few places where youth, people who are "middle aged", and the elderly can be together and all have the same standard of behavior. In these communities, people of all ages come together in a place where similar values and beliefs are shared between individuals. Here, young people can bond with peers and with elders in a safe environment, which can give lots of support while building and sustaining assets.