40 Developmental Assets for Adolescents

External Assets – Support

One of the point we discussed when we were talking about this strategy, was how important is to create good relationship with those whom we work with, in the case of a Youth Worker it would be the children.
Support, as a External assets is founded in relationship, I believe that without this elementary level of interaction any further effort will be unfruitful, this is because with our relationship there is not communication, trust, or belief in each other.
It is so graphic for us when we see the children at risk the lack of good relationship, they are surrounded by poverty, unfulfilled needs, lack of love, lack of goodness, we can say lack of God.
We as workers of the Kingdom of God, we were call to bring Heaven to Earth, to keep the Love of God represented through Jesus Christ and to take it to were it is need, take it to those children at risk.
When we talk about support it is not just to say Yes, you can do it, it means also to say No, but to say it with love, and with reason, most of the time we say to the children to behave but we don’t tell them how to behave.
There is different kind of supports in this tool, we have Family support, Positive Family communication, other adult relationships, caring neighborhood, caring school climate, parent involvement in schooling.
In Children at Risk there is probably lack of Family Relationships, but we as Program can gave them a good environment of caring, and support with other responsible adults taking care of them, and other institutions that show it support to the children given them the opportunity of participate in activities like visits to museum and to the park.
But the more important part in this desire of support children at risk, is creating positive Relationships.