Amesbury’s 2nd SPACES Evening Draws Large Crowd

by TLos | Jan 4, 2019 | Uncategorized

Amesbury’s second SPACES event (Student, Parent and Community Educational Series) was a huge success. Over 90 parents, teachers and community members heard Jon Mattleman present his keystone presentation, “The Secret Lives of Teens and Tweens” on Thursday, November 29th at the Amesbury High School Auditorium.

“The Secret Lives of Teens” is a high-energy presentation that actively focuses on what teens are really thinking, what they fear, why they do not share more, and how adults can effectively support the teens in their lives. This presentation covers areas such as depression, suicide, ‘acting out’ behaviors, drug and alcohol use, and more.

Attendees left with new ways to understand teens and their behaviors (90%) and with strategies they can implement to more effectively communicate with their teens (92%). Parents were also able to build their confidence in their ability to connect with their teen (77%).

The SPACES team has a few events in the works for 2019 including a parent workshop, which will give parents an opportunity to talk one on one with local experts and get more specific skill building around communicating with their teens. Future speakers are being booked to discuss topics including screen time and drug paraphernalia recognition.

These initiatives have all been targeted at improving positive family communication, one of the 40 Developmental Assets that we are trying to build for youth in Amesbury. Only 37% of youth in Amesbury reported having this Asset in the Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behavior survey they took in 2017. The first presentation was on how to listen and effectively communicate with teens given by Anya McDavitt,
Director of Youth Services at North Shore Community Mediation Center. If you missed it, you can watch the presentation HERE.

This work is done is being done as part of a larger regional partnership with the Essex County Asset Builder Network, a group of communities working together to improve supports for youth in their communities.

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About Us The Essex County Asset Builder (ECAB) Network creates regional connections and supports for individuals, families and organizations from Amesbury, Georgetown, Newbury, Rowley, Salisbury and Newburyport, in using a positive youth development approach to help youth thrive. Positive Youth Development

The Positive Youth Development approach engages youth with peers, family and community in a way that enhances their strengths and promotes positive outcomes. It can also be used as an approach to prevention that encourages healthy decisions.
A positive youth development approach to prevention is an effective, evidence based way to look at the opioid epidemic and how we can prevent future harm to our youth. Specifically, it uses a whole community approach rather than just relying on schools and social services agencies.

Being a part of the ECAB Network brings local and regional opportunities. Locally, communities have access to trainings, data, and best practices, and receive guidance on implementation and outreach strategies that build positive youth development possibilities. Communities also get the benefit of regionalizing efforts, where networking, combining resources, current policies, and a shared vision strengthen the towns and cities as well as the region. History Recently, the communities of Amesbury, Georgetown, Newbury, Rowley, Salisbury and Newburyport came together to form the Essex County Asset Builder Network. Funded by a three year grant, the goal of this Network is to create a common language of asset- based youth development (creating protective factors). It has been shown that youth who have more assets are less likely to engage in risky behaviors. This grant will use the 40 Developmental Assets framework to build these protective factors and reduce risk behaviors by focusing on both the youth and the environment that shapes them. The community partnership will enhance the great work already being done to support youth and families, as well as expand community supports, opportunities, and resources. Additionally, the grant will collect and disseminate regional data, coordinate shared resources and bring educational opportunities for various sectors of the community. Goal To spread the philosophy and practice of the positive youth development approach through implementation of 40 Developmental Asset framework within communities across the region. We will accomplish this goal by:

Collecting and disseminating regional and community specific data that can then be shared and used among all agencies.
Increasing the number of community members who feel comfortable using the language of positive youth development and the 40 Developmental Assets approach
Increasing the number of community members who implement a positive youth development approach in their work
Increasing the number of developmental assets youth report

Mission To use a positive youth development approach to build networks within each community and across the region that help decrease risk behaviors in youth and produce a healthier community. Vision A network of communities that welcome, value and empower youth through meaningful opportunities and collaborative efforts to support and strengthen youth assets and increase healthy decision making.