Have you ever been asked to give a presentation about youth to a group of teachers (or parents, or county commissioners) and struggled with how to best present the information? The purpose of this brief article is to describe some ways of presenting key concepts regarding positive youth development to the public. Instead of a focus on problems, one can use these presentations as an opportunity to educate about a positive approach to youth development. Positive youth development means providing youth with the necessary opportunities for them to acquire a broad range of competencies and to demonstrate a full complement of connections to self, others, and the larger community (Pittman, 1992; Pittman and Zeldin, 1994; Takanishi, 1993).

This article is based on my experience in presenting key concepts about positive youth development to many experienced practitioners and policymakers. The research findings about positive youth development are quantitative, linear, and clear; the daily lives of adolescents, which the practitioners saw, were nonlinear, qualitative, and complex. As the "teacher" I also became the "student" and the students "teachers." This experience has led me to conclude that in a community setting when working with people directly involved with youth, teaching is clearly an iterative process. The process is very exciting because this reciprocal relationship creates a learning opportunity for all who are involved.

In this article, I tackle the question of "What to present" and "How to present it." Of course, there are multiple answers to those questions. Here, however, I will provide one example of how I answered those questions in a presentation that I made about key concepts regarding positive youth development. The key concepts are: (1) assets are negatively (inversely) related to risk behaviors and (2) there is a cumulative effect among assets, that is, the more assets a youth has, the less likely he or she is to engage in risk behaviors.

There is an enormous amount of information about positive youth development contained in the social science literature (see Appendix A). Thus, it is important to have a systematic and organized approach to present the important points. One organizational approach that I have found very successful when presenting the findings to a community group is: (1) to identify a few clear concepts--usually no more than three; and (2) to present the concepts using a variety of learning styles. Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences suggests that using multiple strategies will enhance learning. He proposes that there are seven types of intelligence: verbal-linguistic, mathematical logical, music, bodily/kinesthetic, visual/spatial, and the personal intelligences-interpersonal and intrapersonal. Typically, we rely on verbal/linguistic and logical/mathematical methods. However to enhance learning, one should make use of several methods that tap into the various intelligences.

For the purposes of this article I will outline examples of the two above-noted key findings about positive youth development from study that I conducted with over 13,000 adolescents (Keith & Perkins, 1995). In addition, I will provide teaching strategies that I used to illuminate the concepts that underlie these findings. These strategies are not comprehensive but illustrate the approach I have used successfully with community and student audiences. It is possible to select portions of this outline and formulate new approaches.

Finding: The greater the number of assets (protective factors) that a youth has, the less likely the youth is to be involved in risk behaviors.

Background Information: A positive youth development orientation involves shifting attention away from concentrating on problems, and moving toward increasing young people's exposure to the positive and constructive activities that nurture healthy, responsible, and compassionate young people. Positive youth development is about both internal and external assets (see Table 1 & Table 2). Internal assets are the commitment, values and competencies of the individual (e.g., educational aspirations, and social skills); external assets provide young people with interlocking systems of support, control (boundaries), and structure that comprise a supportive community (e.g., having other adults as resources and having a supportive family).

Research has provided data demonstrating that assets are inversely related to risk behaviors (Benson, 1990; Bernard, 1991; Keith & Perkins, 1995; Rutter, 1987; Werner, 1990). Moreover, assets appear to be additive. Each increment of assets generally is accompanied by a reduction in the number of risk behaviors. Thus communities who want to decrease youths' involvement in risk behaviors will focus their efforts on increasing their youths' assets.

Teaching Strategy: The "popsicle model" of youth development, this strategy uses kinesthetic, visual/spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligences in addition to the verbal/linguistic and mathematical/logical.

Time needed: One hour

Objectives:

1. Participants will understand positive youth development
2. Participants will learn about the competencies and supports that are assets (protective factors) and the role that they play in youth development.
3. Participants will understand that assets are negatively related to risk behaviors.
4. Participants will learn about the impact of assets when added together, that is, the cumulative nature of assets.

Materials: Four popsicle (craft) sticks per person

Method:

1. Have the participants break into small groups to answer the question "What is the difference between intervention, prevention, and youth development?" After five minutes, bring the smaller groups back together and reach an overall, not specific, agreement on the definitions. You may want to refer to the analogy presented below.

   Analogy to explain youth development: In understanding positive youth development, it may be best to examine how positive youth development relates to two commonly used approaches: intervention and prevention. Intervention is defined as discontinuing or stopping an already exhibited illness (or a problem behavior). For instance, when an individual has the flu and he or she goes to the doctor to get medicine to help stop the illness from progressing, that is a medical intervention. Prevention, on the other hand, means to take advanced measures to keep something (e.g., youth participation in problem behaviors) from happening. An example of this is when a person goes to the doctor and has a flu shot, thus building up the immune system to keep from catching the flu. Positive youth development is a step beyond prevention. Positive youth development is a process by which youths' developmental needs are met, engagement in problems behaviors is prevented, and most importantly youth are empowered to build the competencies and skills necessary to be healthy contributing citizens now and as adults. In terms of a medical example, the individual takes an active role in his or her health by getting an immunization and by strengthening the body through physical exercise and dietary actions.

   Stress that positive youth development has a dual focus. First, positive youth development is about providing opportunities and positive relationships that help youth gain the skills and competencies they need to be successful. Second, this then prevents involvement in problem behavior and enhances a youth's ability to deal with life challenges and stresses.

2. Once the audience has a basic understanding of youth development, pass out four popsicle sticks to each participant. Explain to the participants that you will be presenting the competencies, assets, and external supports for which research has provided evidence of their negative association with risk behaviors and their positive association with positive youth development. Tell the participants to draw a face of a "typical" youth on the first stick. Explain to them that the face should represent their view of "typical" youth (e.g., smile, frown, bewildered).

3. Once they have drawn a face, hold up a single popsicle stick saying "This is John/Susan, he/she is 14 years old." Then break the stick while simultaneously saying: "This is what can happen when a young person experiences multiple pressures or has to confront a challenging situation. However, young people who have developed certain skills and have other external supports are less likely to break under pressure." Then say: "Now I am going to present the six assets-three of these are external assets; that is, they are outside the individual's control. The other three assets are internal; that is, they are within the individual (e.g., competencies). Please be thinking about these assets not only in terms of how youth develop, but also in terms of how your community fosters and promotes these assets." (You may want to use Table 1 and Table 2 as a handouts to be distributed at the end of the presentation.)

4. Start by describing the sample characteristics of the research that you drew on for the presentation (see Appendix A for references). The main purpose of presenting the sample characteristics is to provide creditability for the findings. Here, creditability is thought of in terms of the sample representativeness of both race/ethnicity and geographic location. If the data characteristics are not available, you should cite the researcher and his or her credentials. Where possible, you should employ local data in your presentations. (Sample Characteristics for the data I have presented are included in Table 3. However, when I make this presentation, I describe the characteristics instead of using an overhead because it is too much information.)

5. Now, describe the external assets. After you describe each asset have them write the asset on a popsicle stick. This will require three popsicle sticks, one asset on one side of each stick. Below is the basic outline of what assets to focus on and what to say. However, determining which asset to focus on is dependent on the particular research you cite and the audience you serve. After each asset or factor is stated, there are brief reasons for the factor's importance. Each section of the outline contains a question that should be posed to the audiences about actions that need to be taken. Group solutions should be the focus of the discussion. During the discussion, you can list important points on newsprint or an overhead transparency.

   State that,
   "Youth who do well even though they are in very stressful environments have external assets like . . . "

   A. Close relationships with an adult (not necessarily a parent)

   1. The person is a role model for the youth.
   2. Youth have the opportunity to develop a sense of trust and a sense of security with someone older than they are.
   3. Discussion question: How do we increase young people's opportunity to interact with adults?
   4. Ask the participants to take a new popsicle stick and write the words "close relationship with an adult."

   B. Parental monitoring

   1. Parents ask:
      
      • Who will you be with?
        
      • What will you be doing?
        
      • Where will you be?
        
      • When will you be home?
        

   2. Parental monitoring demonstrates to youth that their parents are concerned about them. In addition, this enables the parents to stay in touch with their child's life and friends.

   3. Discussion question: How can we provide opportunities to parents to gain good parenting skills?

   4. Ask the participants to take a new popsicle stick and write the words "parental monitoring."

   C. Structured Time Use
   1. Structured time use means involvement in extracurricular activities, such as band, sports, and clubs or organizations in or out of school (e.g., 4-H, Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs.)

   2. These activities provide opportunities for youth to succeed and to discover their individual talents.

   3. Cooperative work and social skills development are major functions of extracurricular activities.

   4. Discussion question: How can you encourage and support youth participation in extracurricular activities? What can community do to support structure activities?

   5. Ask the participants to take a new popsicle stick and write the words "structured time use."

   Youth who do well despite living in very stressful environments have internal assets like . . .

   D. Planning Skills

   1. Youth know how to plan and make decisions.

   2. Youth have an understanding of the consequences of their actions.

   3. Discussion questions: How do we prepare our young people to plan but also be flexible? What things can adults and communities do?

   4. Ask the participants to write the words "planning skills" on the other side of a popsicle stick.

   E. Social Skills

   1. Youth is comfortable in various social settings. He or she knows the appropriate behavior and how to carry on a conversation. Youth knows how to negotiate, to compromise, and to come to a consensus.

   2. Youth demonstrates the ability to initiate and maintain relationships, such as friendship.

   3. Discussion Question: What types of opportunities would enable youth to test and develop social skills? What things can adults and communities do?

   4. Ask the participants to write the words "social skills" on the other side of a popsicle stick.

   F. Problem-solving skills

   1. Youth can develop creative solutions to problems.

   2. Youth has developed both linear and nonlinear thought.

   3. Discussion Question: How do we encourage the development of problem-solving skills? What things can adults and communities do?

   4. Ask the participants to write the words "problem-solving skills" on the other side of the popsicle stick. (Now, you should have three popsicle sticks with three external assets written on one side of each them and three internal assets on the other side of each them.)

6. After going through the six assets, state again that youth development is about giving youth the opportunity to build their competencies and skills and providing a supportive environment for them to grow. Then while you are holding up a set of four popsicle sticks say, "Youth development is not about insulating, but about strengthening young people. It is a lot harder to break the popsicle sticks when there are several of them; certainly you can, but it would take a lot more pressure. This is also true for youth who have been given support and opportunities to develop their skills and competencies. These youth are more likely to not break under the pressure. These youth are more likely to make the healthy choice. (See Figures 1 and 2; this could be used as a visual aid with the audience.) You cannot totally protect young people from stress; eventually they will encounter it. Thus, it is better to prepare youth, by providing them opportunities to develop the competencies and skills necessary for successful adulthood." (You may want to use Figures 1 and 2 as a handout.)

7. This past exercise and Figures 1 and 2 demonstrate that assets are cumulative and inversely related to involvement in risk behaviors. Thus the more assets, the less likely the youth is to participate in risk behaviors.

8. Finally, state that "Competence, in and of itself, is not enough-skill building is best achieved when young people are confident of their abilities and are called upon to use them in their communities. The development of confidence, commitment, caring, character, and connection are essential."

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¹The author wishes to thank Theresa M. Ferrari for her review and comments of this publication.

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