SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS ATTRIBUTES, DEFICIENCIES

RACINE COUNTY -- Only five percent of Racine County's seventh
through 12th graders have the recommended developmental assets to
have a healthy and successful life and avoid risky behavior,
according to a Search Institute survey of local youth.

The Minneapolis-based Search Institute recommends that youth have 31
to 40 of their identified assets, which range from school engagement
and honesty to adult role models and a caring school climate.

Results from the 2006 survey indicate:

Youth with 0-10 assets: 22 percent.

Youth with 11-20 assets: 44 percent.

Youth with 21-30 assets: 28 percent.

Youth with 31-40 assets: 5 percent.

Racine County youth averaged 17.2 assets.

The assets represent the positive relationships, opportunities,
skills and values that promote the healthy development of all
children and adolescents, according to local youth organizations.
The percentages don't add up to 100 percent because of rounding.

The results are virtually identical to a survey conducted in 2002.

"Obviously we can do a better job as a community, I think that is
clear," said Mary Esther Schnaubelt, project coordinator for Focus
on Community, which targets drug and alcohol abuse.

Schnaubelt said the more assets a young person has, the less likely
they will engage in harmful behavior.

General snapshot

The survey provides a general snapshot of what's going on in the
community. It also provides more detailed data on youth assets and
behavior, which can be important for deciding how to allocate resources.

Drinking alcohol remains a common behavior, with 34 percent
answering that they used alcohol once or more in the last 30 days
and 22 percent answering they got drunk once or more in the last two
weeks. Fifty-one percent reported attending one or more parties in
the last year where other kids their age were drinking.

Twenty-four percent said they used marijuana once or more in the
last 12 months.

Thirty-seven percent reported gambling once or more in the last 12 months.

Thirty-nine percent said they engaged in three or more acts of
fighting, hitting, injuring a person, carrying or using a weapon or
threatening physical harm in the last 12 months.

In some bright spots, 78 percent said they helped friends or
neighbors one or more hours a week. Fifty-nine percent valued
diversity, 69 percent don't give up when things get difficult and 66
percent have been a leader of a group or organization in the last 12 months.

Smoking declines

The survey indicated progress has been made in reducing youth smoking.

Between 2002 and 2006, there was a 10 percent improvement in youth
not smoking.

In 2002, 70 percent of 12th graders indicated they had not smoked in
the last 30 days. That number had increased to 81 percent in the 2006 survey.

Sarah Clemons, coordinator of the Racine on the Lake Tobacco Free
Coalition, said state and local initiatives aimed at underage
smoking are a contributing factor in those numbers.

"We have a comprehensive tobacco control program at the state level,
which allows state and local groups to work on education," Clemons
said. "We have a teens against tobacco use program in Racine, where
high school kids go into the elementary and middle schools to do programs."

The comprehensive program runs radio and television ads and helps
with smoking cessation.

Additionally, there is a statewide program that sponsors compliance
checks of businesses that sell tobacco. Citations are issued to violators.

Schnaubelt said specific programs aren't needed to boost youth assets.

"Obviously no matter what your profession or what your role is in
our community, you can still be a friend to a young person,"
Schnaubelt said. "You still can give them an indication that you
care about them."

The Search Institute suggests knowing the names of young people in
the neighborhood and smiling at youth when you see them in
restaurants and stores.

"That's something we can all carry to the grocery store, we don't
have to run a program for that," Schnaubelt said.

The Search Institute survey was administered in March to more than
8,000 students in the Racine Unified School District, the Burlington
Area School District and a handful of Racine County parochial schools.

Founded in 1958, the Search Institute is an independent, non-profit
group whose mission is to advance the well-being of children and adolescents.