PDFD promotes assets for raising successful youth

Asset #32:

Planning and

Decision Making

Although it can be a challenge, making a good decision is a skill youth will need in order to be successful. Deciding what to wear, what sport to play, should they watch television or read a book, even deciding what to eat are all good practices. When young people plan and make decisions they begin to connect their decisions to their future goals and ambitions. This month Partnership for a Drug Free Dorchester is promoting Planning and Decision Making, Asset #32 of the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets. Of the youth surveyed, 29 percent reported they know how to plan ahead and make choices.  PDFD offers the following tips to promote this asset:

At Home

• Allow youth to help with planning menus and preparing family meals.

• For children who participate in several extra-curricular activities teach them to use a daily planner. Show them how to prioritize their schedule.

• Be sure to teach your child a formal process for making decisions for major events that will occur in their future. Remind them that the decision to participate in drugs and alcohol use will affect their ability to make successful choices which in turn affects their future.

At School

• Include youth on planning committees where pertinent decisions are made that will influence the culture of the school inside and out.

• Teach youth the parallel between present decisions and future goals.

In the Community

• Include young people when planning community events.  Youth can decide what activities to include that will attract other young people, design marketing materials, assist with posting flyers and posters, and help out at registration tables and so on.

• Establish a youth advisory council for city, town and county councils that will serve as a youth voice for community issues.

In the Congregation

• Young people can assist with choosing curricula for various programs.

• Give young people the opportunity to plan functions for community youth.

Now log onto PDFD’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/drugfreedorchester and share how you are being an asset builder for Planning and Decision Making. There are probably lots of activities you do that are worth sharing and may inspire others. For more information, view Search Institute’s website: www.search-institute.org/assets or contact Charlene Jones, PDFD coordinator, at 410-901-8162.

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of articles provided by Partnership for a Drug Free Dorchester (PDFD) to promote the 40 Developmental Assets, the most widely used approach to positive youth development. PDFD is a community coalition established to prevent alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse in Dorchester County.