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Building Connections

Wednesday, December 1, 2004

(Howard County Connections)

COMMUNITIES BUILDING ASSETS
Building Connections

By: Nicole Martino

Nicole Martino is an intern for Horizon Foundation’s Howard County CONNECTIONS. She is a senior at Reservoir High School and editor of the newspaper. She is studying the topic of developmental assets and will be reporting on the activities of CONNECTIONS throughout the year.

“You can judge a society based upon how well it takes care of its children. By that measure, we are failing,” Peter Benson, president of the Search Institute announced to a group of Howard County community leaders. “The United States is loosing its way,” he said, “when it comes to supporting the development of children and teenagers.” In partnering with the Search Institute, Howard County Connections is going to try to reverse that trend and create a social incubator to support the development of all youth.

On the evening of November 17th at the Sheraton in Columbia, teachers, students, faith leaders, and community activists joined together for the Connections Initiative’s “Assets in Action,” community gathering. Over 65 youth and 200 adults joined together in celebration of the launching of the Howard County Connections initiative to promote positive development of youth in Howard County.

The Search Instutite’s recent nationwide surveys have shown that only 29% of children feel that they have a caring school climate, that their school provides a caring and encouraging environment for them to grow and thrive within. Only 30% of youth feel connected with positive adult role models in their lives, parents and other adults that model positive, responsible behavior. Only 25% of youth surveyed feel that their community values youth. Caitlin McAnallen, a sophomore at Centennial High School and a member of HYAC, the Horizon Youth Action Council, says that looking at these statistics, “At first, it's disheartening. But then when I realize groups like Connections are out there trying to improve (those) numbers, things feel a lot better.”

The Search Institute has responded to these shocking statistics by outlining 40 developmental assets that youth need to feel empowered. In surveying over 300 communities nationwide they nailed down the positive experiences and qualities that are essential to the development of smart, resilient, competent, responsible youth.

The Developmental Assets are based upon the idea that youth need to feel supported, to feel that they are surrounded by people who love and care for them. They need to know they have someone to turn to. Youth need to feel empowered, valued, safe and accepted in their communities, they need to feel as if they have a voice that will not be ignored. Youth need to have appropriate boundaries and expectations in their lives. You need to ask them where they are going and when they are coming back, in fact they want you to ask. Youth need to learn how to use time constructively. They need to have opportunities outside of school to learn and develop new skills with other youth and adults. Youth need to feel a commitment to learning. They need a sense of why their hard work will pay off, they need to understand the lasting importance of learning, doing your homework, and even reading for pleasure. Youth need to develop positive values. They need to develop their own strong guiding values and decisions that will help them make healthy choices. Youth need to learn social competencies. They need to learn how to work effectively with others, how to avoid conflict, how to make decisions and be flexible. Youth need a sense of positive identity. They need to feel their own sense of self-worth and feel as if they are the ones controlling their own destiny, as if their decisions matter.

Attendees of the gathering heard these requests from nine teenagers who had already been exposed to the assets through their work with the Connections Initative. These youth, selected from schools countywide, participated in a youth panel created so that adult members of the audience could really listen to the things that these young people had to say. They were asked questions such as how the Developmental Assets and the Connections initiative has impacted them, what their relationships with adults who aren’t their parents are like, and if the Developmental Assets were implemented in Howard county, what differences they predicted in three years. One girl revealed that she hoped that one day, Howard County would be more family oriented, while another said that she felt that one of the best things an adult can really do for her is listen to what she has to say.

Attendees also enjoyed various youth performances including the Centennial High School jazz band and two vocal performances. Jay Frisby, a senior at Glenelg Country School performed “Let Them Hear You,” from the musical Ragtime, a song that could not have been more appropriate in asking the audience to, “Let them hear you, go out and tell your story.” Wilde Lake freshman Chelsea Corriveau, the second place winner in the Columbia Teen Idol talent contest, closed the production with, “Hear My Voice,” a song written for her about making peace in the world. The perfect relevance of the lyrics, she said that although she is just a child, she too sees the hurt and suffering in the world and she too has a voice, were not lost on any of the audience members.

According to Benson, it takes time to build these elements of a healthy community. But in time, “Howard County is going to become the place that (is) absolutely the best place for young people to grow up. Nothing matters more then this, to Howard County’s future, to the nation’s future.” As a youth, I believe that if Howard County can not do this, with all of its wealth, education, and resources, then it is not going to happen anywhere.