Asset building helps curb substance abuse: New York: City of Tonawanda School District.

The City of Tonawanda School District's Healthy Community/Healthy Youth program was initiated three years ago as a reaction to teen-age drug and alcohol use. The event that triggered the response in the New York school district was the suspension of a group of student athletes who had attended a party involving alcohol. Outraged parents approached the high school principal for a plan to help their children, and the result was a series of public meetings, where community issues, such as substance abuse, were investigated.

The percentage of teen-agers found to be using alcohol was far higher than previously thought. Consequently, the high school principal and assistant school district superintendent asked a local Youth Bureau to present information that might assist the schools and community in helping students to avoid problem behavior. Specifically, information to be presented was o the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets[TM] as a possible focus for addressing the problem.

The Search Institute[TM], based in Minneapolis, is a nonprofit organization focused on childhood development. Since 1989, it has measured developmental assets of more than one million students in grades six to 12 nationwide, using the survey Search Institute Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors.

Developmental assets, as identified by the organization, fall into two categories, external and internal. The organization describes the assets as "concrete, common sense, positive experiences and qualities essential to raising successful young people." The 20 external assets include, for example, family support, adult role models, and neighbors taking responsibility for monitoring youth behavior. The 20 internal assets include motivation to do well in school, caring for other people and knowledge of how to plan ahead and make choices.

With an eye toward surveying local students, the school district teamed with a community volunteer through the West Seneca Youth Bureau/AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program. The purpose was to get help in administering the survey and analyzing the results. The survey was then conducted among 1,085 Tonawanda students in grades six through 12. The average number of assets reported by the students was only 16.9 out of 40.

National survey results show that the more developmental assets that are experienced by young people, the more positive and successful their development. The fewer the assets, the greater the possibility the youth will engage in risky behaviors such as drug use, unsafe sex and violence.

In most areas, Tonawanda fell below the national profiles. As a result, a school/community team was formed to investigate ways to build assets in the district's students through curriculum and instruction, school organizations, co-curricular activities, community partnerships and support services. The Healthy Community/Healthy Youth program, which led to the school district receiving the 2005 Civic Star Award for New York, was initiated to help build student assets.

The community has pooled diverse community resources to address youth developmental issues through the program. The collaborative effort includes the school district, religious congregations, Tonawanda Youth Bureau, Tonawanda Police Department, area businesses, parents, young people and organizations serving youths.

A variety of programs, activities and community service projects have been developed through the initiative. Examples include a Summer Walk and Talk Program, a physical fitness/mentoring program for young girls, a service-learning project connecting at-risk students with developmentally disabled children, a Grandparents Club that unites seventh-graders and senior citizens, a tobacco-free initiative in the middle schools, an effort to cultivate student writers for the local newspaper's Youth Page and after-school activities for students of all ages.

Student leadership teams at the middle and high schools were formed to encourage student involvement in the initiative.

Tonawanda is one of many communities nationwide to embrace the asset-building model. Its efforts have been building momentum and are being viewed in western New York as a model for others.

For more information, contact Superintendent George Batterson at Tonawanda City School District, 202 Broad St., Tonawanda, N.Y. 14150, or call [phone]. By e-mail, write to [e-mail].