There is a saying that says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step”. This principle aligns with the developmental growth of youths and the process of building a solid foundation for the youth. For people to succeed in life they have to undergo a sound ethical upbringing.
Every person irrespective of age, race, and class went through the process of training or moral upbringing for growth in the developmental asset. The process of developmental assets starts from the early childhood proceeds to the grades K-3 then middle childhood up to the adolescent stage in life. In this book, I will treat the first three stages, which are the first and basic foundation of life. The first three stages of developmental assets serve as a guide in the building up of a person; it serves as a stepping-stone of maturity for every person and promotes them in whatever way they choose to follow in their later life.
What are developmental Assets?
Developmental assets are the process is undertaken or the foundation of building the youths morally and socially to promote a positive standard in them, hence enabling them to succeed both academically and in their endeavors in life. It channels their growth of interaction at home, in the institution, and the society at large (Fleming & Bunting, p. 22).
In Fleming and Bunting’s book, they stated that Starkman, Scales, and Roberts divide developmental assets into two internal parts and the external assets. According to their book Starkman, Scales and Roberts asserted that the external assets are the moral and pattern of relationship, which the youth experience by the adults around them, or the level of moral interaction given to the youth by adults that are close to them. These are grouped into four categories, which are support, boundaries, and empowerment, and the productive usage of time (Fleming & Bunting, pp. 22, 23). The internal assets are the user experience and training they need in making good choices in life. The training that the youths receive from adults makes an impact on their internal assets (Fleming & Bunting, p. 24).
The Internal assets are grouped into four categories also, which are the youth’s enthusiasm for learning, positive values, social competencies, and positive identity (Fleming & Bunting, p. 24).
Looking at the study of life and daily activities one will notice that just as there are advantages, so also there are disadvantages or risks. Therefore, we will be discussing the risks of developmental assets in youths.
The risk factor
From the research that was carried out by many researchers, it was discovered that most of the youths from the low-level class home, polygamous homes, and those that the parents are divorced are the class of people who tend to fall prey easily to a situation which leads to immoral behavior and health problems (Barr & Parrett, p. 36).
As part of the family risk factor, if a child is brought up in a family that is drug inclined or takes alcohol, there is a high tendency that such child will be involved in such immoral act, thereby leading such youth into criminal activities and making them lose the moral and social value of their purpose in life (Barr & Parrett, p. 36). In addition, if the youths are not properly monitored or supervised by their parent they tend to develop a bad habit or immoral delinquency. Such risk happens in a situation whereby the parents find the youth with anything (e.g. pens, toys, books, etc) that was not bought by them and feels unconcern without asking where they got it from; such child tends to develop the habit of stealing in the latter years of life.
When the parents have a negative influence on education or are drop out, their children will also develop the habit of being absent from school since there is no one to encourage them and promote the usefulness of education (Barr & Parrett, p. 36).
In the school risk factor, the youths who are hostile or hot-tempered tend to face an upper risk of unpredictable behavior in the way that they are always troublesome and cause disruptions among their peers.
When you youths are unable to cope with studies in school or have low grades in their subjects, they lose interest in academics and does leads them to the act of taking drugs and alcohol, and sometimes pushes them to prostitution and much other immoral behavior (Damon & Lerner, p. 922).
In the community risk factors, the youths who live in high risk or low-income environments, easily fall prey to the risk factors thereby leading them to drug abuse, prostitution, and carrying of an arm or engaging in the robbery. For a community where there is the availability of the drug, the youths also develop the habit easily since they learn from what they see or what the community offers them.
Another community reason of risk in youth depends on the type of friends they keep in the community. According to the quote ‘show me your friend and I will tell you the kind of person you are’. The same goes with the youth, depending on their environment and the way children are in the area. If it is an area that is highly corrupt, definitely the company that they keep will lead them to all illicit acts or immoral behavior.
Strengthening the risk factors or diversity factors
Just as stated before that there are two sides to a coin, in this part emphasis will be laid on the way of strengthening the risk factors that are stated above. In every family, school, or community there must be a bond binding the youths with their family and every member of the society (teacher, classmates, and friends) (Damon & Lerner, p. 916).
Parents are to encourage the youths by taking them to religious programs and taking part in social clubs within their age group. Whenever the youths use dangerous weapons as an instrument of threat, parents should caution such children on the implications of such an act, and if such a child persists, the law enforcement authority should be informed of such illicit act (Fleming & Bunting, p. 23).
The schools are to instill moral values in the youths and teach them the implications involve in an illicit act. In addition, they are to promote good personal relationships within the youths. The schools are to promote love and harmony within the youths by organizing games and educational programs (Fleming & Bunting, p. 23).
Youths are to be corrected in a calm and disciplined way when they go wrong and once they come back from school all their classwork and assignment should be checked and corrections are to be made. This build develops their academic knowledge and when they get good grades in school, they are to be given gifts for a good grade this will make them do better in the next examination.
Reference list
- Barr R. D., & Parrett W. (2007). saving our students, saving our schools: 50 proven strategies for helping. California: Corwin Press.
- Damon W., & Lerner R. M. (2006). Handbook of Child Psychology: Theoretical models of human development. New Jersey, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
- Fleming T. M., & Bunting L. (2007). PE connections: Helping kids succeed through physical activity. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.