Initiative
A challenging task in community development is to make a community a better place to live and grow. Various community initiatives can be undertaken to make society a better place to live in. These initiatives target different groups in society. For instance, it can target an age group, household, area, and income among others. This treatise tackles one of the initiatives that can be undertaken so as to bring change to the teenagers.
It will focus on teenagers facing peer pressure. Teenagers face a number of problems in today’s society. These problems are widespread ranging from the use of drug abuse, sex, alcoholism, theft, among others. Teenagers need to help out of the problems arising from peer pressure. This is because out of all the teenagers negatively impacted by peer pressure, there are some who care about their well being. Therefore, they need assistance to get out of the vices (Fisher, 2003). This initiative aims to provide youth with a secure environment. In addition, it helps them receive life guidance, realistic information, instructive tutoring, as well as participate in esteem building activities.
Mission
The mission of the initiatives is to enable teenagers to improve their health, education, economic strength, and social vitality in the community.
Vision
The initiative’s vision is a healthy, vibrant, and sustainable community that offers meaningful opportunities for teenagers’ growth and success.
Community’s demographics
The initiative will be carried out at Lakewood California. The state has a total population of 88,253 people. The female is 45,889 while the male is 42,364. 56% of the population comprises of the whites. The remaining percentage is made up of African America, Hispanic, Asian, and Native and other Pacific Islanders. The average income for nonfamily house old amounts to $41,091 while that of married couples amounts to $79,150.
The total household in that state is 26,719. Out of the total household, 8,703 have their own children who are below the age of 18years old. Out of the population of youth between 18 and 24 years, 7.1% are less than high school graduates, 33.7% are high school graduates, 50.6% are in college, and 8.7% have bachelor’s degrees and higher qualifications. In a population made up of 16 years and above, the employed are 39,844, the unemployed are 2,726, and 58 are in armed forces. From the demographics, it is observable that the target population is available.
Development assets
Search engine (2012) defines the development assets framework as “40 common sense, positive experiences and qualitative that help influence choices young people make and help them become caring, responsible, successful adults,” (Search Institute, 2012). This framework has proven to be a successful tool for developing youth in various countries. Some of the specific development assets are discussed below.
Empowerment
Empowerment entails increasing the aptitude of teenagers in the community. This process helps them transform choices into favorable outcomes. Community views youth as a vital resource for development. In most instances, the community grants youth important roles in society and empower them to execute those roles. Empowerment is an important tool for community development because it ensures the utilization of idle human resources (Haines, & Green, 2012).
Commitment to learning
Learning is a key pillar for community development. Teenagers should be actively engaged in learning and be motivated to do well in school. Youth should be encouraged to do their homework. Besides, their school reports need to be closely monitored. Bonding at school should be encouraged to motivate the youth to attend school. Learning is an important tool because it educates the youth and prepares them to take up roles in the community.
References
Fisher, D. (2003). Assets in action: A handbook for making communities better places to grow up. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute. Web.
Haines, A., & Green, P. (2012). Asset Building & Community Development. United States of America, Sage publications.
Search Institute, (2012). Development assets. Web.