What is the"Asset Approach"?  We all agree that we want to decrease risky behavior in young people (such as alcohol and drug use, and sexual activity). The question is, how can we do this? The "asset approach" decreases risky behavior by concentrating on specific, practical, and positive developmental assets that all young people should have in their lives. Examples of these assets include adult role models and youth programs; all forty such assets are described in "what are kids saying?" The asset approach is based on over forty years of research conducted by the nationally-recognized Search Institute in Minneapolis. Their research has shown that if young people increase the number of assets they experience, they will decrease their risky behaviors. The asset model also provides a common language to understand and talk about what children and youth need, as well as a way to measure how our young people are doing.