There are 40 developmental assets that youth need to ensure they grow into caring, responsible adults. It’s not to say that kids who lack these assets WONT grow up ok, but the chances are far less. www.search-institute.org can tell you all about it. 20 assets are “external” which, as several have already stated, are the responsibility of adults to instill in our youth. The other 20 are “internal” – that is, youth need to build them within themselves – adults cannot give these assets to them. That said, it is still our (adults’) responsibility to help young people build these character traits (honesty, caring, resistance skills, cultural and social competencies, a love of learning, peaceful conflict resolution, etc). 30–40 years ago, whole neighborhoods raised the “local” children and everyone knew if the guy hanging out on the street corner belonged there or not. Today, most adults do not feel a responsibility to help nurture the young people in their lives. Even some parents feel it’s the schools’ job. We ALL need to commit to building assets in ALL youth ALL the time.