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

This indicator displays a consistent trend in that close to half of a sample of Maine youth
interviewed in 2000, 2001, 2002 and in 2004, 48% agreed or strongly agreed that “I’m given
lots of chances to help make my town or city a better place to live.” For 2004, 21% of all
respondents “disagreed or strongly disagreed” with this statement and 31% responded neutrally;
so over half of the respondents appear to feel that they are not given lots of chances to make their
town or city a better place to live.

 

Data Sources and Context

This Maine Marks indicator is adapted from the work of the Search Institute
(www.search-institute.org) and their research into developmental assets of young people. The developmental assets framework is popular with many who work in the field of youth
development. The data source for this indicator is a statewide telephone survey of youth grades
9-12 conducted 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 in
November 2001, 400 in November 2002, and 400 in December 2004. Due to inadequate
funding, there weren’t any interviews conducted in 2003.

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.”

For all years, only the data in the “all” column is statistically representative of youth
statewide in grades 9-12. For 2004 only, the data was weighted by finding an average of
the proportion of students in each secondary grade level, by gender, over the past five
years. Attendance reports from the Maine State Department of Education were used to
develop these weighted estimates. These weighted results are rough estimates and are
primarily descriptive in nature.