Assets for Colorado Youth Releases Results of Statewide Survey

DENVER- Only 20 percent of Colorado adults strongly agree that youth are a top priority in their communities, according to a newly-released Assets for Colorado Youth poll.

The Assets for Colorado Youth poll questioned 934 Colorado adults about their attitudes toward youth, how the media portray youth and what Colorado communities are doing for young people. The survey was conducted by the Norwest Public Policy Research Program. It has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

The Colorado Trust funded the poll as part of its five-and-one-half year, $10 million, statewide Assets for Colorado Youth Initiative that was developed by and is being conducted in partnership with Minneapolis-based Search Institute. Assets for Colorado Youth is designed to help Colorado's children and adolescents grow up with the 40 developmental building blocks, or assets, they need to become healthy, caring, responsible adults.

The Colorado poll found that fewer than one-third of Colorado adults think youth respect them, and the majority of those polled think youth are "getting into more trouble these days." While 78 percent disagree or strongly disagree that adults don't care about youth, 75 percent of those polled said adults don't spend enough time with youth. Only 13 percent said they spent more than 40 hours volunteering in youth programs last year. Forty percent said they do not want information on what they can do to personally help youth.

"This poll should be a wake up call for all Colorado adults," said Maria Guajardo Lucero, Ph.D., director of Assets for Colorado Youth. "We care about our youth, and we know they need our help. It's time for more of us to start doing something about it."

The survey found that age, income, ethnic background and gender play a role in adults' willingness to become involved with youth. Women, adults under age 50, and those with a household income of more than $40,000 a year are most likely to view youth positively. Together with parents of elementary and middle school youth, they are also more likely to spend time with young people in their communities. While 75 percent said adults in the state do not spend enough time with young people, most said they personally do enough and that other people are not doing their share.

"The research shows too many of us see getting involved with youth as someone else's job," said Guajardo Lucero. "This poll shows us that interaction with young people and positive views of youth go hand in hand."

Those who are most likely to want more information on how they can help youth include people of color and those with household incomes of less than $40,000 a year. Retired individuals were twice as likely as other adults to strongly not want information about how to become involved with youth, according to the research.

The poll asked what adults in Colorado think their communities are doing for youth. Nearly 80 percent agree that youth have safe schools, neighborhoods and other places to be in their communities. Nearly the same percentage of adults said that their own communities provide a lot of chances for youth to contribute. There were, however, perceived differences in who has access to those opportunities. Thirty-three percent of those surveyed think girls do not have equal access. Even more common is the belief that family income makes a difference in young people's opportunities. Fifty-six percent said access to opportunities depends on a family's financial status; more than 20 percent strongly agree that is the case.

The poll asked about adults' perceptions of the way youth are portrayed in the media. Women, adults under age 50 and those with household incomes less than $40,000 a year are more likely to think media coverage of youth is too negative.

"The media play a large role in the way many of us perceive ourselves and the world around us," said Peter L. Benson, Ph.D., president of Search Institute, "By balancing news coverage to include the many positive things kids are doing and by helping people understand the many large and small things they can do to help kids succeed, the media can help us take giant steps toward improving our communities."

Despite some of the challenges implied by the poll's findings, there were hopeful signs, as well.

"The majority of Colorado adults believe-accurately-that youth volunteer in their communities and provide services to others," said Guajardo Lucero. "This may explain why, even though some of the views adults have of youth are negative, more than half of Colorado adults believe that today's young people will make Colorado a better place when they grow up, and only six percent think they'll make it worse. These positive views of young people are what we can build on as we work together to make sure our youth get what they need to succeed."

Assets for Colorado Youth is an initiative of Search Institute in partnership with The Colorado Trust.

For a list of the 40 assets and more information on how you can build assets in youth, please call (303) 832-1587. Assets for Colorado Youth is located at 1580 Logan St., Ste. 700, Denver CO, 80203.

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