THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605230003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By STEVEN J. DANISH
LENGTH: 98 lines
Our young people today are taking more risks with their health, their lives and their future than ever. The time for wishing things would be different has passed; action is needed. It is time for business - yes, business - to do something about it.
The number of illegitimate births to teenage girls has risen by more than half since 1980; marijuana use among eighth-graders has doubled in just the past three years; arrests of young people for murder and manslaughter has gone up 60 percent since 1980; and the dropout rate in some of our city schools approaches 50 percent.
Why are youth increasingly involved in such activities, and what can we do about it? The three main reasons are: They are emulating their role models and peers; they are trying to relieve frustrations and make themselves feel good; and they lack optimism about their future.
But why is it business's responsibility to do something about it; why not the parents of these youth?
Parents can be the key to preventing these problems. If parents are present, serve as good role models and set high expectations and standards, their children should have the will to avoid these problems and become productive citizens. Unfortunately, too many parents are either not willing, not able or not present to fulfill these obligations. So, if it is not parents, then who is it to be?
We can no longer rely on the federal government anymore to develop these programs. It doesn't have the resources. Moreover, many Americans don't want the federal government to run social programs; they say government is inefficient and out of touch with the needs of the local community. The private sector is viewed as more responsive to communities in which they have a stake. It is time for businesses to step in and put their money where their lobbyists' mouths are.
American businesses must play a leading role in helping our youth know how to succeed. It is in their interest to play this role; businesses rely on well-trained and motivated employees, intelligent and successful customers and thriving communities. Businesses must realize that if they are to succeed in the long term, they must help our youth to learn and to earn.
Nehru once said that society's chief defect is that we are given more to talking than to doing. In today's language, we can ``talk the talk'' but can't ``walk the walk.'' Communities need new programs that teach youth how to be productive citizens. Most of today's programs aren't effective either because they are poorly conceived or because they don't reach the youth that need them.
Let me offer some guidelines on how businesses can get started in developing successful community-based programs for youth.
First, don't bother with slogan campaigns. We must do more than tell youth what to do and what not to do. Changing behavior is just not that simple; we know that in our own lives. Take the lead in your communities to either identify and fund or build programs to help youth succeed. Commit to developing comprehensive programs like the Coca-Cola's Valued Youth Program or Anheuser-Busch's Caring Connections Program.
Second, build the program around teaching the most-important life skill - goal-setting. The capacity to take responsibility for our lives rests upon the ability to visualize our potential and our dreams, and to bring them meaningfully into the present. Goals predict future behavior and therefore are our energy source. Unfortunately, most of us don't set reachable goals. Stated positively and specifically, reachable goals are important to goal setters and are under their control.
How to set goals that are reachable, and then how to reach these goals, must be taught to youth, not just told to them. In the Going for the Goal Program we have developed, learning to set and achieve goals is the essence of what is taught. Carefully selected and well-trained high-school students teach the program to middle-school students during or after school. To date, Goal has been taught to more than 12,000 youth in 18 cities. It is starting its seventh year in Richmond, its fourth year in New London, Conn., and its third year in Los Angeles. By the end of the year, we expect to have taught 20,000, including students in several foreign countries.
Third, we must reach youth where they are and want to be - watching television and playing sports on the playground. Youth spend more time watching television than any other activity except sleeping. By the time a child is 14, he or she has watched more than 16,000 hours of television - the equivalent of more than two years of life.
The debate over banning violence on television has masked a bigger issue. If television is so successful at teaching violence, why can't it be used more extensively to teach values, as William Bennett is doing, and life skills, as we are doing?
Sports also represent an arena for reaching youth, because next to television sports are their most-popular leisure activity. However, sports programs need to be designed to teach youth life skills as well as sports skills. Too often, what is learned on the field or in the gym cannot or should not be transferred to school, home or work.
Fourth, the private sector must do more than give money to people in need: It must also invest in the future by teaching youth how to succeed.
Consider the proverb: Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. In making a decision about your community contributions, ask yourself: What is it that I can uniquely provide, and what is in my best interest? The answer will in large part determine whether the next generation of employees and consumers will have the skills and financial resources to keep our nation growing. MEMO: Steven Danish is professor of psychology and preventive medicine
at Virginia Commonwealth University and director of its Life Skills
Center. by CNB