Indicators of Children's Well-Being
Behavior and Social Environment Indicators
The indicators in this section present data on selected
measures of young people's personal behavior and aspects of their social
environment that may affect them. The indicators focus on illegal or high-risk behaviors,
including smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, using illicit drugs, and involvement
in serious violent crimes, either as offender or victim. In addition to these indicators,
readers should consider positive behaviors of children, aspects of neighborhood
environment, and other aspects of risk and problem behaviors in evaluating
this dimension. Sources for some of these indicators are being sought.
Indicators Needed
A broader set of indicators than those presented in this section is
needed to adequately monitor the social environment and behaviors of youth. Other
behavior and social environment measures are needed on:
- Indicators of positive behaviors. The participation of youth in positive activities and the formation of close attachments to family, school, and community have been linked to positive outcomes in research studies. Additional research needs to be conducted to strengthen our understanding of positive activities and the aspects of those activities that protect youth from risk. Then, regular sources of data that can be used to monitor trends in these important areas over time need to be developed. The child care background measure shows participation rates in extracurricular activities such as organized sports, clubs, arts, religious activities, and other school or community activities. In addition, the youth participation in volunteer activities measure was presented as a special feature in the America's Children 2000 report. Forum agencies are also examining the measurement and influence of young people's feelings of closeness with their parents.
- Neighborhood environment. Research shows that growing up in distressed neighborhoods has an effect over and above that of individual or family background characteristics on child well-being. A survey is being implemented that would, for the first time, enable the monitoring of America's communities and neighborhoods over time and identify distressed neighborhoods in which children are living.
- Youth violence. According to victim reports, 19 percent of violent crimes in 2000 involved a youth offender between the ages of 12 and 17. Since crime data are reported by victims, not perpetrators, the indicator on serious violent crime offending by youth does not provide critical information on the number and characteristics of youthful offenders involved in serious crime. Additional work is needed to produce a more comprehensive and useful measure of the prevalence of violence among young people.
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