Since its inception
in 1981, the Rite of Passage Experience® Initiative has proved
effective in promoting youth development and leadership,
in building a sense of community, and in increasing a community's
capacities to collaborate on behalf of their children and teens.
Over 100,000 youth and their families have participated in ROPE®
in both small towns and large cities across the United States and
Canada.
The success of this initiative has been recognized
by a number of national and regional organizations, including:
Child Welfare League of America
National League of Cities
Connecticut Youth Services Association
State of Connecticut Office of Policy & Management.
ROPE® has also received consistently high
evaluations from teens, parents and educators alike in research
studies over the years. A review of 15 years of student and parent
evaluations of ROPE® (1987-2001) revealed the following:
The Word from Students
- 86% of students ranked their overall enjoyment of ROPE®
as 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 5
- 94% thought all sixth graders should have a ROPE® experience
The Word from Parents
- 68% of parents rated their children’s reactions to the
program as 5 (very positive) on a scale of 1 to 5
- 75% stated ROPE® increased their child’s self confidence
- 55% indicated that ROPE® increased their child’s personal
insights
- 58% declared that ROPE® helped their child cope with the
problems of adolescence
- 62% judged that ROPE® will ease their child’s transition
from sixth grade to middle school
- 83% ranked ROPE® as “highly valuable” for their
child
- 93% wanted ROPE® to continue in their school
Communities Also Value ROPE®
A three-year study among ten different communities with ROPE®
initiatives found that 80% of those communities were continuing
with their ROPE® initiatives three years after state funding
had expired. In that same study, the participants reported that
ROPE®:
- Served as a vehicle to mobilize and bring communities together
on behalf of their children
- Offered children a healthy path to adulthood
- Gave adults in the community a viable and productive way to
be helpful in the lives of their community's children
- Empowered communities to take responsibility for helping their
children
- Increased the amount of money the community spent on children
To discover how ROPE® can make a positive
difference in your family, school, and community, please
contact TheCenter@rope.org.
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