Indicator: 2 - Youth Opportunity for Community Involvement

Why This Is Important

The involvement of young people in activities that help promote their bonding to their community, and involvement which promotes participation on behalf of a greater civic good, is a goal of many youth development programs. Some research shows that youth who feel respected and part of their community are less likely to participate in risky behaviors. Young people who have many opportunities to improve their community may be more likely to involve themselves in other civic responsibilities (such as voting) as they become adults.

Where We Stand

About half of a sample of Maine youth interviewed in 2000 and 2001 agreed or strongly agreed that "I'm given lots of chances to help make my town or city a better place to live." This percentage was slightly lower in the latter year, both overall and for most subgroups. Young people who had done community service were more likely to agree or agree strongly with the statement (57% in the 2000 survey, 55% in 2001) than were those who had not done community service (43% in 2000, 41% in 2001).

Maine youth appear to feel that they have opportunities to improve their communities more than do youth nationally. A 1999 publication from the Search Institute reported the following percentages of youth perceiving chances to make their communities better nationwide. This data is from various data sets and is not from a nationally representative sample, so it is not strictly comparable to the Maine youth data.

Data Sources and Context

The Maine Marks indicator was shaped by the work of the Search Institute and their research into developmental assets of young people. The developmental assets framework is popular with many working in the field of youth development. The data source for this indicator is a statewide telephone survey of Maine youth aged 13 to 19 done by Critical Insights, a strategic marketing research firm in Portland, Maine. A total of 403 telephone interviews with Maine youth were done in November 2000; 402 more were interviewed in November 2001. The youth were asked the following: "Please tell me how much you agree or disagree with the following statement: I'm given lots of chances to help make my town or city a better place to live." Only the data in the "all" column is statistically representative of youth statewide; the gender and grade level breakdowns are only meant to be roughly descriptive of all young people in Maine.

The national comparative data is from A Fragile Foundation: The State of Developmental Assets Among American Youth, Search Institute (1999). The charted information reflects the degree to which youth from diverse communities agree with three statements:

• In my family, I feel useful and important.
  
• I'm given lots of chances to help make my town or city a better place in which to live.
  
• Students help decide what goes on in my school.