Your community and your neighbors—you live in one and next to the others. And because you and your family spend so much time in and around your neighborhood, you want to make sure your loved ones are safe. So, how well do you know your neighbors?

While they live nearby, neighbors sometimes can be so busy they rarely find an opportunity to speak to one another, let alone get to know each other. In today’s world, many people move to new places, work far from their homes, and communicate over long distances. As a result, they may have little attachment to the place where they live. But finding time to build relationships with the people who live close to you and your family can help your child in many ways.

What To Know

Feeling Connected…
A sense of community means having something in common with others. Ingredients may include shared backgrounds, beliefs, challenges, customs, interests, and values. Knowing that we belong and that others feel the same way can help us become secure and leads to understanding, trust, and cooperation. Studies also show that teens who think well of their community are less likely to engage in problem behaviors.¹

Connection to the local community is especially important for children. Becoming aware of others and the community in which they live lets them know that they fit into the world around them.² Children who have positive relationships with adults may be at lower risk for delinquency and substance abuse.³ One reason may be that, as children become involved with other people in the community, they learn to respect and care about them.⁴

Youth also gain from being exposed to adults who reinforce parents’ values and expectations.⁵ Even when a teen has been told that an action is risky, peer pressure, emotions, and the idea that “It can’t happen to me” can cloud her judgment.⁶ However, absorbing standards—not as choices but as common sense or as a matter of right and wrong—can prompt a youth to make good decisions.

The benefits of belonging in the neighborhood influence adolescents in whether or not they will take unhealthy risks. Those risks cut across behaviors such as substance abuse, delinquency, underachievement in school, sexual activity, and suicide attempts.⁷

Since you and your neighbors may send your children to the same schools and activities, you may share the same concerns about neighborhood safety. They may be willing to join you in helping to protect children from drug use and other risky behaviors.

What To Do

Kids Can Get Involved…
Kids can benefit from having a “safety net”—neighbors who care, listen, monitor them, and guide them toward safe choices. Linking kids to adults in the community starts with being open to others in daily life, taking an interest in local issues, or getting yourself and your kids involved in activities.

Lay the groundwork for community participation by having him contribute his efforts and ideas to family life. While familiarity provides a foundation for connecting kids with adults, three building blocks can help your child bond with neighbors and other adults:⁸

1. Opportunities for involvement. Urge your daughter to join in fun, substance-free activities offered by youth centers, faith-based organizations, and schools. Strong bonds can be made when she takes part in meaningful activities and feels valued for her input.
2. Skills for successful involvement. Help your son build the skills to participate in neighborhood activities. Talk with him about what is expected of him; coach him on managing his time, showing initiative, and keeping commitments; advise him on handling conflict; encourage and support achievement in school; and provide a good example through your own actions.
3. Recognition for involvement. Young people need to be recognized and valued for their work. Praise your daughter’s efforts regularly, do the same with other youth, and urge neighbors to show their appreciation as well.

Neighbors and Parents Can Get Involved…
If you and your son want something to do closer to home, want to find healthy and fun ways to get involved, or if you’ve simply had a burst of creativity, you can start your own neighborhood activity. Create sidewalk chalk drawings with positive themes, start a book or sports club, or form a service group to volunteer at a local organization (such as an animal shelter or a retirement center). Make sure both kids and adults can take part, keeping in mind that activities planned between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. give kids something to do after school.

Planned after-school activities can help keep your daughter safe and also can be a great time for you to chat with other parents. Together, you can make your neighborhood a safer place for children. You can join with other parents to:

• Educate yourself and your neighbors about the risk factors in your area and the warning signs for risky behavior in children. Look for conditions such as a lack of organized activities at school and in the community; kids who are unsupervised, hanging out, or skipping school; and violence and vandalism. In addition to what you see, research problems through local newspapers and statistics kept by local agencies, police, and schools.
• Ask community leaders to assess local risk and protective factors related to problems such as alcohol and drug use, violence, truancy, and vandalism in order to target prevention efforts.
• Start a neighborhood network or coalition. Invite other families to join you. Check out Help Your Community.org or Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America for tips on starting your own neighborhood antidrug coalition.
• Increase safety and strengthen neighborhood spirit by taking part in events such as National Night Out and groups such as Neighborhood Watch. The National Crime Prevention Council has information on these and other anticrime efforts.

Forming a “safety net” with your neighbors can start with a simple, friendly gesture. Make a point to introduce yourself and your family to your neighbors. Wave at the neighbor driving by on his way home. Stop to chat with the neighbor working in her front yard. Smile at the neighbor living in your apartment complex. You can be a catalyst for changes to make your neighborhood safer for all children.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
Henry Ford

Sources

Additional Resources

National Crime Prevention Council, last referenced 8/1/07.

National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2003. Preventing Drug Abuse Among Children and Adolescents, A Research-Based Guide for Parents, Educators, and Community Leaders, Second Edition, last referenced 8/1/07.