Results are in for this year's Youth Assets survey, showing how La Plata County youth rank their families and communities on 40 assets that predict how likely those youth are to engage in risky behaviors versus positive healthy behaviors.
The survey was given this school year to a representative sample of 6th to 12th grade students in the Ignacio, Bayfield, and Durango school districts.
Some things have improved from the previous survey in 2007-2008, and some have gotten worse. Twenty assets relate to family and community, and 20 are internal assets.
Pat Senecal from the Celebrating Healthy Communities Coalition, and Susan Hakanson representing the Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) Master Plan, presented results to Bayfield town trustees on April 21. Senecal and Cody Gross made the presentation to Ignacio trustees on May 6.
"If we see that students have at least half of the assets, they are way less likely to participate in risky behavior," Hakanson said. "Data is a tool to make good decisions. . We look at this data to see where our programs are falling down in the county. This is solid data. Across economic and racial boundaries, this holds true. There's way less risky behavior if a youth can identify an adult in their life" as a positive role model.
"The kids are watching," she said. The number of assets are more of a predictor of positive or risky behavior than race or family poverty, she and Senecal said.
"The last time we did the survey, youth were above 50 percent (identifying with) at least 18 assets," Hakanson said. The goal for the latest survey was that level of identification on 21 assets, "and we succeeded," she said.
The last time, 18 percent of responders identified only with 0 to 10 assets. That's down to 7 percent now, Hakanson said.
Thirty-six percent of students identify with 11 to 20 assets, the same as in 2007-2008. Forty-three percent identify with 21 to 30 assets, up from 35 percent in 2007-2008. Fourteen percent identify with 31 to 40 assets, up from 11 percent in 2007-2008.
Four assets were identified by more than 70 percent of responders. Seventy-seven percent said their family provides a high level of love and support; 76 percent are motivated to do well in school; 78 percent said they act on their convictions and stand up for their beliefs; and 76 percent are optimistic about their personal future.
Three assets were identified by fewer than 40 percent of responders. Twenty-five percent said they spend three or more hours per week in creative activities such as music, art, or theater; 37 percent said their parents or other adults modeled positive, responsible behavior; 31 percent have a perception that adults in the community value youth.
"We're going to ask the county commissioners to have a youth council," Hakanson said in response to that last one.
Bayfield Mayor Rick Smith suggested, "as a board and staff to reach out to the high school to have a student advisory committee. Let them see that decisions are based on a bigger picture. They aren't in a vacuum. To let them see what goes into a decision, especially if it affects kids."
Senecal said the Assets survey results are used along with local results from the statewide Colorado Healthy Kids survey, which asks about use of alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana in the last 30 days. It also asks about perception of harm and how easy it is to acquire these items.
"This is the symptom. The assets are the tool," Senecal said.
Use of alcohol or tobacco within the last month has declined substantially since 2006-2007, while marijuana use has stayed fairly steady, most recently 15 percent. Alcohol use was 19 percent (versus 36 percent in 2006-'07) and tobacco was 8 percent in the 2013-'14 survey (versus 17 percent in 2006-2007).
The highest perception of risk was with tobacco.
Senecal lamented, "The perception of harm from drugs hasn't gone up the way we'd like. The newest research is the brain isn't fully developed until you are 25. It develops from back (the pleasure center) to front (higher level thinking and reasoning)."
She continued, "We want to address the perception of how many youth use drugs. Four of five kids in the county don't use drugs. We want to present the positive sides to kids, because peer pressure matters."
Hakanson added, "How do we make it OK to say I'm not using?" The survey indicates that perceptions that peers have used alcohol within the last 30 days are much higher than actual use.
Celebrating Healthy Communities has been operating for 22 years to prevent substance abuse and to promote healthy behaviors, Senecal said. "We try to pick up what's going on with youth and create strategies to create assets," she said.
The CYF Master Plan was developed in 2007 and 2008 with participation of the county, Ignacio, Bayfield, and Durango, Hakanson said.
