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What: "What's up with our kids?," presentation of data from new Search Institute survey of Brown County Youth; free, open public presentation; everyone is encouraged to attend

When: 7-9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10

Where: District Administrative Center (former middle school) auditorium

NEW ULM - What's up with our kids?

A new county-wide survey promises some answers to this question - and, perhaps, a better understanding of young people's strengths, needs and ideas about building better relationships with youth.

The Search Institute Attitudes and Behavior survey was administered to youth from seven private and public schools in Brown County last October - 13 years after the first initiative of this kind, and ten years after that effort's follow-up, explains Mike Brigger, Executive Director of Healthy Communities/Healthy Youth (HCHY). HCHY, a youth programming group supported by the United Way and other agencies, spearheaded the 2009 survey.

The survey was given to 1,300 students in grades seven, eight, 10 and 11. Students in grades six, nine and 12 were excluded because they participated in a somewhat similar, state-required, study.

An interpretation of the survey's results - and ideas for action in response to them - will be offered to the public 7-9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10, at the District 88 Administrative Center on State Street. During the presentation, a Search Institute trainer, Shelby Andress, will share aggregate countywide findings, with a focus on trends. The open-forum format will accommodate questions from the public. In follow-up events, Brigger will report school-specific results to participating schools.

Like the original two surveys, done respectively in 1996 and 1999, the 2009 survey asked youth to respond to questions that help evaluate the presence or absence of 40 "assets" deemed necessary for healthy development, Brigger explains.

Twenty of the assets are external - and look at youth's support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, and use of time. Another 20 assets are internal - and focus on youth's commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies and positive identity.

The list of assets was developed as a result of internationally recognized youth development research by Dr. Peter Benson, the Minneapolis-based Search Institute leader.

The more assets a person possesses, the more likely they are to grow up healthy, caring and responsible. In 1999, the average number of assets for local youth was 18 (an incremental improvement from 1996).

Brigger, who has vigorously promoted the present follow-up, points out that it is very likely overdue. "In 10 years, youth culture can change very dramatically", he says.

Brigger adds that while the 1996 and 1999 surveys focused on New Ulm students only, in the intervening years, HCHY has grown to a countywide organization.

The 2009 survey includes students in New Ulm, Sleepy Eye, Springfield and Comfrey, which lends it an even wider validity.

Brigger hopes the survey will give schools, families and the public a better idea of how students feel about themselves and their environment. He hopes the findings will help build better relationships with, and support systems for, youth.

Brigger is cheering for a large public turnout at the Jan. 10 forum. In 1999, he notes, the middle school auditorium was packed, with some 1,000 people showing up.

Brigger says it is crucial to build upon the findings of the survey.

He is planning follow-up speakers: one next April and an another next October, to build upon each earlier presentation, "reinforcing ideas in people's minds."

"We (HCHY) also hope that this will tell us what areas we need to address with programming opportunities for youth..., how best to bring everyone together... to empower youth, work on weaknesses, develop their strengths," Brigger adds.