Building Youth Bernards Twp. Health Department Lyme Disease Municipal Alliance
Building Youth

What are Internal Assets?

Internal assets focus on individual qualities that guide positive choices and develop a sense of confidence, passion, and purpose.

Commitment to Learning

  1. Motivation to Achieve
    Young person is motivated to succeed.
  2. School Engagement
    Young person is actively engaged in learning.
  3. Homework
    Young person reports doing more than one hour of homework every school day.
  4. Bonding to School
    Young person cares about his or her school.
  5. Reading for Pleasure
    Young person reads for pleasure three or more hours per week.

Read more about how to build a commitment to learning by visiting the related Building Assets page. 

Personal Values

  1. Caring
    Young person places high value on helping other people.
  2. Equality and Social Justice
    Young person places high value on promoting equality and reducing hunger and poverty.
  3. Integrity
    Young person acts on convictions and stands up for her or his beliefs.
  4. Honesty
    Young person "tells the truth even when it is not easy."
  5. Responsibility
    Young person accepts and takes personal responsibility.
  6. Restraint
    Young person believes it is important not to be sexually active or to use alcohol or other drugs.

Read more about how to build personal values by visiting the related Building Assets page. 

Social Competencies

  1. Planning and Decision Making
    Young person knows how to plan ahead and make choices.
  2. Interpersonal Competence
    Young person has empathy, sensitivity, and friendship skills.
  3. Cultural Competence
    Young person has knowledge of and comfort with people of different cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds.
  4. Resistance Skills
    Young person can resist negative peer pressure and dangerous situations.
  5. Peaceful Conflict Resolution
    Young person seeks to resolve conflict nonviolently.

Read more about how to build social competencies by visiting the related Building Assets page. 

Positive Identity

  1. Personal Power
    Young person feels he or she has control over "things that happen to me."
  2. Self-Esteem
    Young person reports having a high self-esteem.
  3. Sense of Purpose
    Young person reports that "my life has a purpose."
  4. Positive View of Personal Future
    Young person is optimistic about her or his personal future

Read more about how to build a positive identity by visiting the related Building Assets page. 



To learn more about Search Institute and the 40 Developmental Assets, please visit www.search-institute.org.
Search Institute SM and Developmental Assets TM are trademarks of Search Institute.

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