Cultural competency of adults and youth - adults accept and understand differences then teach and support that acceptance in youth. Positive connection to school - youth feel that school personnel care about them and want them to succeed. Academic achievement - youth feel that they are successful in school, and have gained skills for success in life. Listed below is the data that relates to protective factors for Bloomington youth. As youth grow older, they are less likely to report good family communication.
More students report being able to talk to their mothers than their fathers.
Most students feel their parents care about them. Youth need to have adults they can trust and who role model non-violence as a way of life. There are no statistics available on the number of youth who experience or witness verbal or emotional abuse in the home. In the 1998 Minnesota Student Survey about one-half of youth reported liking school. Since 1992 all grades have had a decrease in the percentage of students reporting that school personnel care about them.