By building developmental assets - 40 essential building blocks that children and teenagers need as a foundation for growing up. Research shows that these assets can have a positive impact on young people's lives.
Assets are powerful.
They give young people the strengths they need to make positive choices in life, even in the face of stress and pressure. The Search Institute research has shown that the more assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in many high-risk behaviors. Too many young people don't have enough of them. Search Institute has found that the average 6th to 12th grader surveyed experienced only 18 of the 40 assets. Furthermore, just 8 percent of young people have 31 to 40 of these assets.