BOARD RETREAT To Serve More Youth with a Quality program with a Quality program

Positive Youth Development in Scouting Brian Burkhard Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development Tufts University

What is the Positive Youth Development (PYD) Perspective?

1.Because of the potential to change, all youth have strengths. 2.All contexts have strengths as well. These strengths are resources that may be used to promote positive youth development. 3.These resources are termed “developmental assets”. They are the “social nutrients” needed for healthy development. The PYD Perspective: Six Core Concepts

4.These assets are found in families, schools, faith institutions, youth serving organizations, and the community more generally. 5.If the strengths of youth are combined with ecological developmental assets, then positive, healthy development may occur. 6.We should be optimistic that it is in our power to promote positive development among ALL youth and to create more asset-rich settings supporting such development among ALL youth. The PYD Perspective: Six Core Concepts

The “Big Three” of Youth Development Programs What features of youth development programs promote PYD? Youth Development Programs which are marked by “the Big Three:” 1. Positive and sustained adult-youth relations; 2. Life-skill building curricula; and 3. Opportunities for youth participation in and leadership of valued family, school, and community activities are key ecological assets linked to the development of PYD and youth Contribution and to lower levels of risk/problems behaviors

Community- Based Youth Developmen t Programs Skill-building activities Sustained youth-adult partnerships Youth leadership How Do We Promote PYD AND CONTRIBUTION? Youth Development Programs Marked by the “Big 3” Program Characteristics influence PYD and Civic Behaviors Civic Contributions PYD

CompetenceConfidence CharacterCaring Connection Individual Strengths Ecological Assets (Delivered by Youth Development Programs) Community Contribution Reduced Risk Behavior TIME

Scouting The Five C’s 1.Which of the 5 C’s is Orange County Council best at delivering on? 2.Which of them is Orange County Council weakest at delivering on? 3.What is a way that we can use our strength to improve upon a weakness ? PYD CompetenceConfidence CharacterCaring Connection

Grit in Scouting What is grit? –“A passionate commitment to a single mission and an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission” –A perseverance and passion for long-term goals –What can grit predict? West Point Spelling Bee Graduate Program Success Rate “How Children Succeed” concepts in Scouting –“A safe place to fail” –Building life skills for future success Goal-setting Overcoming obstacles and failure

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) 11% experienced emotional abuse. 28% experienced physical abuse. 21% experienced sexual abuse. 15% experienced emotional neglect. 10% experienced physical neglect. 13% witnessed their mothers being treated violently. 27% grew up with someone in the household using alcohol and/or drugs. 19% grew up with a mentally-ill person in the household. 23% lost a parent due to separation or divorce. 5% grew up with a household member in jail or prison.

The Big Questions being addressed by BSA include: What makes Scouting “Scouting?”: Methods, Values, and Outcomes MethodsValuesOutcomes IdealsScout Oath & LawCharacter Development Patrols Duty to GodCitizenship UniformsPhysical Fitness AdvancementLeadership Adult Association Personal Growth Leadership Development Outdoors

PYD CompetenceConfidence CharacterCaring Connection Individual Strengths Ecological Assets (Delivered by Youth Development Programs) Community Contribution Reduced Risk Behavior TIME

Application in Orange County Council

Alignment with the Strategic Plan Optimizing Scouting’s Impact Enhance Talent Management & Leadership Robust Use of Our Council Facilities Build a Sustainable Funding Model Study and Research

Measuring Outcomes of BSA Programs

Youth development (YD) programs seek to impact the character of youth in a manner that enhances their individual health and achievement (e.g., in school) and enables them to contribute positively to, and to be leaders of, their communities and the nation. Accordingly, the Big Question addressed in this research is whether a YD program directed to the enhancement of character in youth can, in fact, promote character development among America’s diverse young people. Does Boy Scouts of America (BSA) constitute such a program? Character And Merit Project

Determine if Boy Scouts promotes character in youth If so, examine how Boy Scouts promotes character in youth using data from Scouts, parents, and leaders Character And Merit Project

Based on the results of pilot research with youth from the Minuteman Council, we used measures of seven character- related attributes associated with the Boy Scouts Oath and one attribute associated with the positive youth development model to create a new measure of character Trustworthiness, helpfulness, kindness, obedience, cheerfulness, thrift, and reverence Scouting constructs: Trustworthiness, helpfulness, kindness, obedience, cheerfulness, thrift, and reverence Future-mindedness PYD construct: Future-mindedness Measuring Character among BSA Participants: Research with the BSA Participants

Youth Questionnaire: Sample Items for Kindness Measuring Character among BSA Participants: Research with Cub Scouts Youth Questionnaire: Sample Items for Kindness

Measuring Character among BSA Participants: Research with the BSA Participants Kindness Kindness Obedience Obedience Reverence Reverence Cheerfulness Cheerfulness Thriftiness Thriftiness Trustworthiness Trustworthiness Helpfulness Helpfulness Academic Competence Future-Mindedness Future-Mindedness Goal-setting Scouting Engagement Scouting Engagement

Measuring Outcomes kindnessobediencereverence cheerfulnessthriftinesstrustworthinesshelpfulnessfuture mindedness Use the character measure (kindness, obedience, reverence, cheerfulness, thriftiness, trustworthiness, helpfulness, future mindedness) online Use the measure of the Cs of PYD and of Contribution developed by IARYD online Monitor growth of Character, Contribution, etc. through repeated use of surveys Compare growth across different BSA locations, programs, “dosage levels,” and in relation to non-Scout groups

Research for the BSA’s Character and Merit Project was made possible by support from the John Templeton Foundation. Thank You!