Page A l2 <Tlu' JlintrlüuflJfr < IW ä w W any of the essential things that Latino young people need in order to thrive are missing from their lives. That's the conclusion ot a survey that included 358 Latino sixth, eighth and tenth grade students (as part of a survey of 10.000 students overall) w ithin M ultnom ah County. The survey measured the presence of 40 assets or building blocks that all young people need to grow up healthy, caring and competent. It's simple really. The more ot these assets a child has, the more likely that child will succeed. On the other hand, young people with the fewest assets generally have the highest involvement in drug abuse, crime, and other dangerous behaviors. On aver age, as our survey revealed, local Latino youth have only 18 of these 40 assets, leaving them vulnerable to many problems. Now that we know that, what do we do? Well, as this research report reveals, you can do a great deal. For example, most Latino youth say their family provides high levels of love and support but few have other adult role models. This is something com munity members can give to them. Not enough Latino youth are mo- M A profile of Latino Youth was conducted by the Multnomah Commission on Children & Families. DEC. 23, 1998 it tivated to do well in school, and few say the school provides an encouraging environment. In volvement in the schools can change that environment. Latino youth remain optimistic about the future, yet only one in five feels valued by the community. As community members, we need to let them know that we do care. The Latino community sees itself as a community with extended families and now we must use those families and com munity to help provide the sup port our young people lack. What do we know about our Latino youth? We know most have hope. We know they value honesty and accept personal re sponsibility. We know they are concerned about promoting so cial justice and helping others in their community. Their inner strengths and at titudes contradict the myth that young people simply don’t care. Many are involved in commu nity service and their religious communities, care about their school, stand up for what they believe in, and see a bright fu ture for themselves. Latino youth continue to be lieve and to care and to hope even as they lack the support that can virtually guarantee suc cess. Most Latino youth say they don’t have positive adult role mod els. Most Latino youth say they don’t know how to make choices and plan ahead. Many say they don’t feel that adults value them. These are things adults can help to fix. Our youth need parents, rela tives, neighbors, schools, mem bers of the religious community, and community members who believe in them. They need adults who will take the time to help them succeed. Through this survey, we dis covered that most of our young people feel they have family sup port and love, but the majority says their family doesn’t commu nicate well. Far too few feel the community cares about their suc cess or failure. While young people care about learning and we know their school environment can have an enormous impact on shaping their skills and ambitions, too few have adults who are involved in their education. On the average, our Latino youth have just 18 of the 40 assets they need, but if doesn’t have to stay that way. There are things we can do to provide our youth with positive role models, and to show our interest in the success of every Latino young person. The important research shows that for our Latino young people to succeed, we must take the time to show them we care for them, take the time to communicate with them, and take the time to support them. By doing so, we give our youth the assets they need to suc ceed. 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