SURVEY PART OF DARE CURRICULUM IN COPLEY

Students Try To Do Well, Poll Shows

Children rate themselves on 40 criteria that researcher says can predict
happy, healthy life for young people

An informal survey of Copley children in grades five through 12 shows that
they are motivated to do well in school -- one of 40 personal assets that
researcher Peter Benson has found predict a happy, healthy life for young
people growing up.

The survey, conducted by Copley police youth worker Marcie Mason as part of
the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) curriculum in the
Copley-Fairlawn City Schools, looked at how 156 students graded themselves
in terms of having assets that Benson's 1996 research identified as
important for youths.

The qualities that make a difference can be fostered by adults throughout
the community, according to results of pilot programs that Benson's
Minneapolis-based Search Institute has set up across the United States in
the past three years.

In the informal poll of Copley students, young people were asked how
closely they identified with observations such as, ``I feel like I can talk
to my parents,'' ``I am involved in extracurricular activities,'' ``I
belong to a faith community,'' ``I feel my neighbors care about me'' and
``I feel I make a valuable contribution to my community.''

These answers indicate such ``external assets'' as family support, a caring
school climate, a community that values youth, positive peer influence and
creative activities.

While the Copley students rated themselves highly in many areas, Mason
found one of the comparatively low areas was in ``experiencing a caring
neighborhood.''

There also are ``internal assets,'' such as achievement motivation in
school -- that the Copley students appeared to feel strongly -- and bonding
to school, honesty, responsibility and a sense of purpose.

One of the internal assets, ``reading for pleasure,'' also scored low among
the Copley-Fairlawn students, Mason said.

``That appears to be one of the lowest assets'' among these students, Mason
said -- ``whether a young person reads for pleasure three or more hours a
week.''

An asset like that can be important for more than just classroom
performance, noted Copley-Fairlawn Middle School counselor Toni Ehrman, who
is working with Mason to prepare a presentation of Benson's research for
parents and students in the school district.

The school district and Copley and Fairlawn police departments will present
Benson's ``Asset Development Approach'' to the DARE Night Out program at 7
p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, at Copley-Fairlawn Middle School, 1531 S.
Cleveland-Massillon Road. The program is for parents and students in grades
6-12, and a 6 p.m. pizza supper will precede the event. Child care will be
provided for younger siblings.

Benson's research has been adopted in 10 programs in Ohio. Those include
the ``Portage Elevates Assets in Kids,'' or PEAK program, which has
operated for a year under the leadership of Colleen Mahoney, director of
Kent State University Center for Health Promotion, and Sally McDade,
director of the Portage County Children's Center in Ravenna.

The idea of these community programs is to develop a community approach to
helping adolescents grow into successful and caring members of the
community, Ehrman said.

``The Search Institute research indicates that the more of these assets a
child has, the less likely they are to participate in high-risk activity,
such as drug and alcohol use, sexual activity, crime and violence,'' Ehrman
explained.

Mason heard Benson present his research in a workshop two years ago and was
very impressed.

``When I walked out of there, my head was shaking. The stuff this guy said
really made sense,'' the police youth worker said.

After the DARE Night Out, parents can take these ideas back to ``their
businesses, their faith communities, their neighborhoods and families and
employ techniques to help develop assets within the children with whom they
come in contact,'' Ehrman said.

``For example, say there is a business. Instead of looking at teen-agers as
prospective shop-lifters, we are trying to change that paradigm to one that
`these are valued customers, valued people in our community,' '' she said.

Besides leading to less risky behaviors among teens, personality assets
help reinforce positive behaviors, like valuing diversity and learning to
delay gratification, the school counselor said. Those children who score
high on Benson's scale of 40 assets also score high in academic work.

In general, students who were shown in Benson's research to have both
internal (personal) and external (community) assets show strength and
emotional health -- and success in later years, Mason
said.