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Introduction
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Learn About It
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What Does It Mean to “Expand Possibilities”?

 

Actions That Expand Possibilities

Search Institute has identified three actions that expand possibilities:

  • Inspire: Inspire me to see possibilities for my future.
  • Broaden horizons: Expose me to new ideas, experiences, and places.
  • Connect: Introduce me to people who can help me grow.

 

Getting Started: Ideas for Parents

Here are some ways moms, dads, and other parenting adults expand possibilities with their kids:

  • Find ways for your children to spend time with people who are different from your family.
  • When your kids seem curious about an activity, topic, or issue, ask questions such as “what strikes you as interesting about this?”
  • Introduce your kids to a wide range of people, places, ideas, cultures, and vocations. Start with ones they’re curious about.
  • Encourage your children to try things they might be interested in. Maybe try it together.
  • Connect your kids with people you know in your extended family or community who can explore with them their areas of personal interest and strength.
  • Model being a curious learner by asking questions and sharing what you’re learning in your own own life. Learn things from your kids.
Reluctant to Connect with Others?

We would like to have other supportive adults in our kids’ lives. We would like there to be other people we can count on when our kids need them.

Yet we sometimes are slow to connect our kids with other adults, ideas, and experiences. We may worry that these connections could:

  • Lead other people to meddle with our parenting and our family.
  • Reflect badly on us if our kids turn to other adults for advice.
  • Influence our kids in ways we don’t like.1

We also hear about adults who may take advantage of our kids, which is particularly scary.

In reality, though, the vast majority of adults are trustworthy. And, of course, parenting adults should take steps to ensure that relationships are safe and appropriate.

The good news is that relationships with other adults can enhance teens’ relationships with their parents, according to a mentoring study.2 Our opportunity as parents is to help make connections that we trust and will bring out the best in our kids.

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Check It

Take a quick quiz to reflect on how you expand possibilities for each other in your family. Use the results to explore new ways to help each other learn and grow.

Parents Do you already have a Family Quiz Code? Click here. Click here to take the quiz and get a Family Quiz Code to share with your family (optional).
Youth* Click here if your family has a Family Quiz Code. Ask a parent to set up a Family Quiz Code.


* The quiz is designed for youth ages 10 to 18.

ABOUT THE QUIZ

What’s the quiz for? This quiz is for your own reflection and discussion as a family. It is not a formal assessment.

How does it work? The first adult who takes a quiz is assigned a random number, which we call your Family Quiz Code. They then share that code with everyone else in the family. Each person just enters this Family Quiz Code when they start a quiz, and all your results are automatically combined so you can talk about them together.

Why do you need a Family Quiz Code? This anonymous code lets you see the results from everyone in your family combined.

Who will see the results? No one else will ever know your responses, unless you share them. The Family Quiz Code cannot be used to find or identify you or your family.

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Talk About It

What Worlds Can You Open Up?


It can be exciting and stimulating for family members to help each other explore new possibilities. Talk together about how people have opened up possibilities for you—and other horizons you’d love to explore together.

Discussion Starters with Your Kids

  1. What is one thing you really enjoy (such as music, ideas, foods) that someone else in the family introduced you to? Tell the story of how they introduced you to it.
  2. Think about the different people your family spends time with. In what ways are they similar to your family? How are they different from your family? Think about similarities and differences such as culture, political ideology, religious beliefs or practices, birth country or nationality, sexual orientation, food choices, and hobbies and interests. Are most of your family’s friends mostly like you, or do you see a lot of differences?
  3. What do you find to be enjoyable about spending time with people who are different from your family? What can make it hard?
  4. Who are (or were) significant adults outside the immediate family who have or had a big influence on your life? How did they influence you?
  5. Who has helped you deal with disappointment or working through challenges when you’ve been trying to achieve something important to you? How did they do it?
  6. What are ways we can support each other in our family when we run into roadblocks to our goals or dreams?

 

Discussion Starters with Other Parenting Adults*

  1. What are ways you have introduced your kids to different ideas, people, or cultures? What has worked well for you? What didn’t work out well?
  2. Sometimes we worry about our kids getting exposed to ideas or beliefs that are different from our own. How might those encounters help our kids grow?
  3. Most families spend most of their time with people who are a lot like them. What ways, if any, has your family intentionally expanded your circle of friends to include people with many different backgrounds, experiences, or beliefs? What opportunities do you see for doing that?
  4. What are areas of life where you have encouraged (or could encourage) your child to get help from an adult outside your family? How has (or could) asking someone outside the family for help made a difference?

* These parenting adults may include your spouse or partner, extended family members, friends who are parents, or a parent group or class.

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Try It


It’s a Big World Out There!


A big part of growing up is finding your place in the broader world and discovering options for the future that really fit who you are. These activities invite your family to explore possibilities together.

Inspire: Inspire me to see possibilities for my future (three family activities)

When someone inspires us, they make us want to do something. They give us ideas that energize us. They lift our spirits and motivate us to take action.

In families, we can also inspire each other to try things, take on new challenges, and keep pursuing our dreams. As parents, we point our kids toward things that are meaningful and purposeful. We seek to motivate them to grow to become their best selves.

These family activities celebrate who inspires you. They also give you a chance to see where a bit more inspiration could make a lot of difference.

1. Inspired to Say Thank You 20 min

Affirm ways family members have inspired us to take on challenges.



Sometimes people, including our family members, inspire us, and they don’t even realize it. This activity invites you to acknowledge some ways you inspire each other.

  1. Give each person sheets of paper or cards so that they have as many sheets as there are members of your family. Everyone will also need a pen or colorful markers.
  2. Have each person write or draw a thank-you to every person in the family, thanking them for something they’ve said or done that inspired them to learn or grow in small or big, funny or serious ways. This inspiration may have been intentional action, or something accidental. For example:
  • A child may have introduced a parent to a video game they now enjoy together.
  • A parent may have lost some weight, which inspired a child to eat better.
  1. After everyone has completed their notes for all other family members, share them with each other. Depending on what works for your family, you may:
  • Have each person read or describe their note to others; or
  • Pass your notes to each other, then have the person receiving it read it aloud.
  1. When all the notes have been read aloud, discuss these questions:
  • What patterns did you see in what inspired each of us?
  • What surprises did you hear?
  • How did it feel to hear how you inspired each other?
  • What does this activity inspire us to do together in the future?

2. Our Wall of Inspiring People 45 min

Create an inspiration wall to recognize people who have motivated your family to grow, learn, and be your best.


Lots of people may have inspired your family. Some you know personally, including friends, extended family, ancestors, teachers, classmates, coaches, or mentors. Others may be historical figures, national or international leaders, celebrities, authors, or others who did things that inspired you. Create a place in your home to celebrate them and the ways they’ve influenced you.

  1. Have each family member think of three or four people who have inspired them to learn, grow, tackle a big goal, or overcome an obstacle. Talk about how these people inspired you. Then pick three or four people who inspire your whole family.
  2. Find an open wall, a table, or other surface in your home where you can create a large collage that you can keep displayed for a while.

Option: If you prefer, you can create an online collage. Type “collage maker” into a search engine to find a free service that works for your family.

  1. Gather paper, markers, and other art supplies. Write each person’s name and/or find pictures to post. Then add notes, pictures, quotes, artifacts, and other objects that represent these people.
  2. As you’re creating the wall, talk more about the people—and others who have inspired you. When you’ve finished, stop to admire your work. Talk about some ways your family is better because of the people represented on the inspiration wall.
  3. Leave the inspiration wall up for as long as you like as a reminder and ongoing inspiration. Add to it, if you think of new things. If some of the people on your wall live nearby, invite them to see it.

3. A Little Inspiration, Please! 15 min

Identify areas where each family member could use a bit more inspiration to achieve a goal.

Sometimes we all need a little boost of encouragement when we’re working on a goal or dealing with a challenge. This activity gives family members a chance to offer that inspiring encouragement.

  1. Give each person a sheet of paper and something to write with.
  2. Draw a circle at the top of the sheet. Inside the circle, write one goal you’re working on that presents a challenge you could use a bit of extra encouragement with.
  3. When people have all written their challenge on their sheet, have each person describe their challenge. Take time to be sure everyone understands the challenges each person is facing.
  4. Then pass the sheets around. Underneath the circle, have each person write one way they will encourage or inspire that person to keep moving forward.
  5. When everyone has written on everyone else’s sheet, return it to the original person.
  6. Have everyone read their sheets to themselves, then thank other family members. Encourage people to keep their sheets where they’ll be reminded of their family’s encouragement and inspiration.
Broaden horizons: Expose me to new ideas, experiences, and places (two family activities)

Sometimes we need to move beyond our comfort zones to explore the people, places, cultures, and opportunities in the world around us.

It’s comfortable to do what we always do, interact with the people we already know, and talk with people who think like we do. But our lives are enriched when we try new things, hear ideas different from our own, and spend time in places outside of our normal routine.

A big part of growing up is finding your place in the broader world and discovering options for the future that really fit who you are. Through strong family relationships, we get the sense of safety and security we need to have the confidence to try new things and explore new possibilities.

1. Your Inheritance in Expanding Possibilities 15 min

Be inspired by stories about how your family’s ancestors struck out on their own.


Chances are good that your family had ancestors who struck out on their own to embrace new ideas, people, or places. Retell some of these stories to inspire and guide how you explore new possibilities today.

  1. Gather as a family. If you have pictures of grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, or other ancestors, bring them to help trigger memories.
  2. Remember and retell stories of how these ancestors explored the world beyond previous generations. This could include people who:
  • Immigrated to a different country or city.
  • Were the first generation to learn to read or go to college.
  • Took a firm stand to advance an unpopular social justice issue.
  • Started a new business or changed professions from what family expected.
  • Built friendships (or married) across lines of race, class, ideology, nationality, or religion, when that was controversial.
  • Welcomed people who were considered outcasts into their home or family.
  1. After you’ve told a few stories to each other, reflect on lessons you might learn from their example. Discuss these kinds of questions:
  • Which stories really resonate with you? Which ones have a lot of meaning—or are just really memorable?
  • Which stories, if any, make you proud of your past? Which ones, if any, are embarrassing now?
  • Are there any themes across these stories that you consider an important part of what makes your family who it is?
  • What lessons do you see in their stories about how your family does or could help each other explore new possibilities for the future?
  1. Get several sheets of paper to create small posters that capture “wisdom from the past for the future.” Write a phrase or a brief sentence on each sheet that your ancestors would say to you about exploring possibilities for the future for your family and, in particular, kids. (If you have pictures of the people you can use, add them to the posters.) Display the posters somewhere in your home to continue inspiring you.

Variations

  • If you have ancestors who are still living nearby (or are accessible via phone or video chats), ask them to tell you stories they remember. Better yet, make video or audio recordings of those interviews so that you can share them with future generations. If a family member enjoys creating things with technology, they might produce a short “documentary” to share with your extended family at a family reunion or other gathering.
  • Many families are part of cultural, historical, or religious traditions that include stories of people who have challenged conventional wisdom, struck out on their own, and opened new possibilities for those who followed. Using the same activity, focus on these stories that are meaningful for your family.

2. Try It! Do You Like It? 20 min

Exploring ideas, activities, and cultures in your own community not only expands possibilities, but it can enrich your family’s time together.


Most of us have routines that we follow. We go to the same places. We hang out with the same people. We’re involved in the same activities. Those routines give structure to family life. But it’s good to try new things from time to time. This activity encourages you to be intentional in expanding your horizons close to home.

  1. Gather as a family, and have everyone brainstorm places, cultures, activities, and other things in your town or city that you’re curious about, but have never tried. Depending on what fits for your family, this could include:
  • Parks, recreation areas, or nature preserves;
  • Restaurants or specialty shops;
  • Museums or art galleries;
  • Music, theater, dance, or spoken word events;
  • Cultural festivals;
  • Places of worship;
  • Landmarks and historic sites;
  • A zoo;
  • Culture-specific neighborhoods;
  • Unusual shopping areas; or
  • Other activities and places.

Be sure every family member identifies at least two or three things they are curious about. Write down all the ideas.

  1. Then create together a “top 5” list of things you’d like to try together as a family (with everyone participating), being sure to include at least one idea from each family member. (If your family is large, you could make it “top 10” or more.) You may want to limit it to free activities or to activities that cost less than a certain amount, based on your family budget.
  2. Decide how often it’s realistic for your family to try out these ideas. You could do one per week or one per month. Or you could decide to do one per day during a week when everyone is off of school and work. Then add them to your family calendar so you don’t forget them.
  3. When it’s time to do an activity, let the person who picked it be the leader and guide for the family.
  4. After you complete each activity, talk about it:
  • What did you really enjoy? What did you dislike?
  • What new thing did you learn about yourself from this experience? What did you already know that this experience reinforced?
  • What new thing did we learn about each other?
  • What might you try next based on this experience?
  1. Keep track of what you enjoy most, which can become part of your family’s routine, if you like. When you’ve worked through your top-5 list, create a new one to keep exploring together.

Variations

Exploring through service. It’s one thing to visit different places in the community. You can get a different perspective by finding places to volunteer together as a family that expand your understanding of your community, the issues at stake, and your own priorities and values.

As a family, brainstorm issues you care about or questions you have. To identify places that would welcome volunteers, talk with friends, check with organizations you’re part of, or contact networks such as the Hands On Network, which has a database of local action centers with opportunities. Arrange to do a one-time volunteer session to see if it’s a good fit, then consider whether to keep serving others together through this opportunity. You can also find lots of family service ideas from Doing Good Together.

College tours. Exploring future possibilities includes thinking about future educational opportunities for kids. If one of your family members is beginning to think about options after high school, decide as a family to visit local higher education institutions, including colleges, universities, technical colleges, or community colleges. (Talk to a school counselor if you need ideas.) Don’t limit your choices to those you’re already interested in, but get a sense of the range of learning opportunities that may be available. Arrange for a campus tour if they’re available, then talk together about what you liked and didn’t like in each place.

Expand. Some families have the resources to expand their exploration to their state, country, or beyond. Involve everyone in the family in learning about, discovering, and enjoying the world around them.

Connect: Introduce me to people who can help me grow (two family activities)

Everyone benefits from having a web of positive relationships that enrich our lives and help us achieve goals. For young people, it’s important that this web include trustworthy, caring adults outside of the immediate family, but everyone benefits from friends and allies of all generations.

These activities help family members reflect on how they help each other build connections that are important to us. And if connecting with people you don’t know well yet is awkward for some family members, practice getting comfortable with it.

1. Expand Your Webs of Relationships 15 min

Discover connections you have that can enrich each other’s lives.


Many different people can form and build developmental relationships with our kids and with each other. These can include extended family, neighbors, teachers, family friends, employers, coaches, mentors, and many others. Parenting adults also benefit from many of these kinds of relationships.

This activity invites you to think about the extent to which current relationships beyond the family embody each of the five strategies in a developmental relationship, or a relationship that helps you grow and thrive. Then, what other connections could family members help each other make to strengthen this web of relationships?

Personal Reflection:

  1. Download, print, and give each person a copy of the worksheet “Your Web of Developmental Relationships.”
  2. Ask each family member to think about people in different parts of their lives, such as school, work, organizations you participate in, your neighborhood, and other places. Write their initials in the diagram where t you think they do the most for you. Think of up to 10 people with whom you have a meaningful relationship.

For example, a teacher who always asks you for updates on your hobbies or interests may be really good at Expressing Care. Write their initials in the “express care” wedge in the “school” circle.

  1. Identify those spaces in the web where there may be gaps. Who do you know who could build a relationship with your child that might fill those gaps? Write their initials on the sheet as well, but star them (*) for follow-up.

Discussion:

  1. Show each other your diagrams. What patterns do you see in each other’s web of relationships? Are there particular places where you have a lot of relationships, or just a few, or none? Are there particular aspects of relationships that you experience the most? The least?
  2. Where might there be gaps in different family members’ diagrams? Are there some places where they don’t have a lot of strong relationships? Are there some areas of relationships (such as Share Power) that are less common?
  3. Who are people that other family members might know who could fill in some of the gaps? How might you try to make the connections?
  4. Are there some areas where no one really knows people who could fill the gaps? If so, try the next two activities, which focus on ways to build connections to new people.
  5. As a family, decide something you’ll do to thank some of the people who are particularly important to members of your family. This could be as simple as a thank-you note, or you could find ways to get together in person to thank them.

Formal Mentoring: If you’re concerned that you need additional support for your child, investigate whether there’s a local mentoring program that would benefit them. Talk to a school counselor, social worker, or other professional who will know what’s locally available and whether the programs are a good fit for your child.

You may also contact your state’s mentoring partnership, which likely knows of local programs in your area.

2. Getting Comfortable Meeting New People 15 min

Practice conversation starters together that can make it easier to get to know new people.


One of the challenges in expanding our networks is that it can be hard to get to know new people—especially for some people. The conversations can be awkward, and they don’t seem to go anywhere.

However, becoming socially confident involves skills that most people can learn with practice. (It’s much more difficult for people with social phobias.) You can begin getting more comfortable and building these skills by practicing at home.

This activity gives family members ways to practice breaking the ice and starting to get to know someone they’re meeting for the first time. (Many of the conversation skills can also help with everyday conversations at home.)

  1. As a family, brainstorm a list of some people you have a hard time talking to. For some kids, it may be a teacher, a doctor, or a parent of a friend. For some adults, it may be someone who works in a job they don’t understand or someone with a very different personality or set of interests.
  2. Talk about what can make these conversations awkward. Keep track of some of the most common things that make these conversations difficult.
  3. Say that many people struggle with talking to people they don’t know, but there are skills you can learn that can help, with practice. Review the ideas in “Tips for Talking with People You Don’t Know (Yet).” Which ideas, if any, might make the conversations with these people less awkward or difficult?
  4. Discuss your own experience with the kinds of ideas on the tip sheet. What’s worked for you? What hasn’t? Adjust the tips to work well for you and your family.
  5. Pick someone you talked about earlier as being awkward to talk to, and ask a family member to role play being that person in a group conversation. (Pick the family member who knows this person the best.) Have other family members use some of the tips to have a made-up conversation with this person.
  6. After two to three minutes of role playing, stop and talk about what worked and what didn’t, knowing that it’s a made-up situation. What might you try the next time you have an opportunity to talk with this person?
  7. Look at the tip sheet again. Identify one or two tips that you think might make conversations better in your own family. Commit together to using those tips during the coming week when you’re having a conversation together.

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Learn About It

What Does It Mean to Expand Possibilities?


We help each other grow in our families when we look to new possibilities. This involves trying new things, going new places, and meeting new people. Expanding possibilities involves three actions in Search Institute’s developmental relationships framework:

  • Inspire: Inspire me to see possibilities for my future.
  • Broaden horizons: Expose me to new ideas, experiences, and places.
  • Connect: Introduce me to people who can help me grow.

Expanding possibilities helps us the most when it grows out of a base of care and support young people can depend on. This provides the security that fosters freedom to explore and expand horizons in ways that are important for growing up.12 Expanding possibilities also involves building connections with people beyond our immediate family and friends—those who are closest to us and most like us. These broader connections, sometimes called “loose ties,” are different from the “close ties” with family and close friends, but they are also important for growing up and being part of community. We also learn to connect with people who are different from us in order to enrich our lives and build a rich, diverse, and pluralistic society for everyone. Sociologists call this “bridging social capital.”5

Why Is It Important to Expand Possibilities?

Expanding our horizons and relationships helps kids as they grow up. Through connecting with people, places, and experiences, our kids:

  • Explore new possibilities and find new opportunities.11
  • Learn about how the world works and how to make their way. This includes education, work, housing, health services, and civic life.4,6,9,11
  • Learn how to hold meaningful, responsible roles in society.3
  • Discover more about themselves and what matters. They do this by interacting with new people and places.11
  • Develop allies who look out for them, particularly if they run into crises, prejudice, or other barriers.3
  • Learn to respectfully engage with new cultures and nationalities. This is good for kids and society.4

How Do Families Expand Possibilities?

U.S. parents are less likely to say they expand possibilities than any of the other elements of developmental relationships, according to Search Institute research.

 

For more research on providing support in family relationships, check out Search Institute’s research on families. Take the Expand Possibilities quiz to explore the ways you share power in your family.

A Stronger Web of Adult Supporters

Kids need to have relationships with adults other than their parents. Other trustworthy adults can enhance the way we build relationships within our families.

 

What other adults offer

Relationships with other adults help young people:

  • Expand their ideas about who they might be in the future.
  • See themselves through someone else’s eyes. This helps them form a sense of themselves that is distinct from how their parents see them.
  • Receive guidance and support they may not be open to from their parents.9

These important adults can include:

  • Extended family members and neighbors.
  • Teachers are very important non-parent adults to kids. When kids have strong relationships with their teachers, they are more likely to adjust well in school, take part in learning, and do well in school.7
  • Religious leaders, youth program staff and volunteers, and friends’ parents.
  • Coaches, employers, mentors and other non-family adults. (Their specific role is not as important as the kind of relationship they form with kids.)

How these relationships help young people: Young people who have positive non-parents in their lives (“natural mentors”) are more likely to:

  • Be more engaged in school;
  • Complete high school and go to college;
  • Be more satisfied in life;
  • Engage in good health behaviors; and
  • Engage in fewer high-risk behaviors, including drug use and violence.8

Not all young people experience these relationships: Connections with trustworthy, caring adults do not happen for many kids. Many kids have no positive contact with caring adults beyond parents and teachers. Parents need to help kids connect with other caring adults who can expand their horizons.

Expanding Possibilities Online

Though parents appropriately worry about some things kids do online, the web and social media can also play important roles in expanding possibilities for youth. Here are a few positive opportunities:

  • Connect with people from many different backgrounds and places, allowing them to develop a deeper appreciation of the world around them.1
  • Explore diverse ideas, information, and opportunities, which can help sort out what sparks their interest and what really matters to them.1
  • Access resources and support they may not have access to or feel comfortable seeking in person in their community. This can be particularly true for youth who are coming to terms with their own identities and places in the world.10

Manage risks: Like any community connections, online risks must be managed well, including the risks of predatory individuals, cyberbullying, and the possibility that kids will be drawn into extremist, hateful, or harmful networks and ideas. At the same time, with appropriate cautions, technology can be a powerful resource for expanding possibilities.

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Read It

Expand Possibilities

We help each other grow in our families when we look beyond what we already know to see things beyond today that can open new possibilities in the future. This involves trying new things, going new places, and meeting new people.

Abuela (Family Strength: Explore)

Written by Arthur Dorros

Illustrated by Elisa Kleven

Get the Book For your school or organization.

For your family, or visit your local library.

Download the discussion guide in English and Spanish.

Tomas and the Library Lady (Family Strength: Connect)

Written by Pat Mora Illustrated by Raul Colòn


Get the Book For your school or organization.

For your family, or visit your local library.


Download the discussion guide in English and Spanish.

 The Ugly Vegetables (Family Strength: Explore)

Written and illustrated by Grace Lin
Get the Book
For your school or organization.

For your family, or visit your local library.


Download the discussion guide in English and Spanish.

Research Sources

Introduction

  1. Kesselring, M., de Winter, M., Horjus, B., van de Schoot, R., & van Yperen, T. (2012). Do parents think it takes a village? Parents’ attitudes towards nonparental adults’ involvement in the upbringing and nurture of children. Journal of Community Psychology, 40(8), 921–937. doi:10.1002/jcop.21497
  2. Rhodes, J. E., Grossman, J. B., & Resch, N. L. (2000). Agents of change: Pathways through which mentoring relationships influence adolescents’ academic adjustment. Child Development, 71(6), 1662–1671. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00256

Learn About It

  1. Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143–1168. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x
  2. Feeney, B. C., & Thrush, R. L. (2010). Relationship influences on exploration in adulthood: The characteristics and function of a secure base. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(1): 57–76. doi:10.1037/a0016961.
  3. Furstenberg, F. (2005). Banking on families: How families generate and distribute social capital. Journal of Marriage and Family 67, 809–821. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00177.x
  4. Portes, A. (1998). Social capital: Its origins and applications in modern sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 24(1), 1–24. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/223472
  5. Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
  6. Putnam, R. D. (2001). Community-based social capital and educational performance. In D. Ravitch & J. P. Viteritti (Eds.). Making good citizens: Education and civil society (pp. 58–95). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  7. Roorda, D. L., Koomen, H. M. Y., Split, J. L., & Oort, F. J. (2011). Teacher-child relationships and interaction processes: Effects on students’ learning behaviors and reciprocal influences between teacher and child. Review of Educational Research, 81, 493–529. doi:10.1177/1745691612459060.
  8. Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., Roehlkepartain, E. C., Hintz, N. R., Sullivan, T. K., & Mannes, M. (2004). The role of parental status and child age in the engagement of children and youth with adults outside their family. Journal of Family Issues, 25(4), 735–769. doi:10.1177/0192513X03259139
  9. Schwartz, S. E. O., Chan, C. S., Rhodes, J. E., & Scales, P. C. (2013). Community developmental assets and positive youth development: The role of natural mentors. Research in Human Development, 10(2), 141–162. doi:10.1080/15427609.2013.786553
  10. Shaw, L. H., & Gant, L. M. (2002). In defense of the Internet: The relationship between Internet communication and depression, loneliness, self-esteem, and perceived social support. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 5(2), 157–171. doi:10.1089/109493102753770552
  11. Sullivan, P. J., & Larson, R. W. (2009). Connecting youth to high-resource adults: Lessons from effective youth programs. Journal of Adolescent Research, 25(1), 99123. doi:10.1177/0743558409350505
  12. Waters, E., & Cummings, E. M. (2000). A secure base from which to explore close relationships. Child Development, 71(1), 164–172.
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