Producing and writing songs for a social cause enables us to promote positive experiences, opportunities and relationships that young people need to grow into healthy, caring, and responsible individuals. The 40 Developmental Assets are the building blocks for youth to thrive and succeed. The framework of the 40 assets is grounded in research on child and adolescent development, risk prevention and resiliency in children. The Search Institute has done extensive research on what kids need to be successful. They have surveyed more than 1 million youth across the country. The assets are divided into 8 broad categories of human development. These include the

                                                               External Assets:  Support, Empowerment, Boundaries & Expectations, Constructive use of time 

                                                               Internal Assets:  Commitment to Learning, Positive Values, Social Competencies and Positive Identity

         "Songs 4 Cause" is an initiative for social change and positive expression of issues, and its effect in communities all over the world. The more assets that a student or young person has the more likely they are to make healthy choices and to avoid high risk behaviors. All of our programs incorporate mandatory guidelines in our lesson plans that correlates with all eight categories of the 40 Developmental Assets.

          "Songs 4 Cause" uses music to build critical thinking skills; instructors encourage students to think by examining, evaluating, and challenging the assumptions, premises, interpretations, and evidence that others have taken for granted. By combining philanthropy with entertainment, we provide a benefit to both those in need and those who contribute resources towards solutions. The pairing of music and social causes create a perfect harmony with the power to create long-lasting, emotional connection with listeners and the student artists. "Songs 4 Cause" helps organizations harness the power of the marketplace by helping them accomplish charitable goals while simultaneously challenging students to critically analyze and deconstruct lyrics both within a historical context and as applied to current social problems.

          Listening to music is an emotional and educational experience that potentially shapes an individual’s values, actions, and worldview. Creating the music that inspires becomes a therapeutic exercise that aids youth in discussing personal issues and helps them self actualize their role in the solution of problems that effect their community and the world. Music can be a fresh, innovative teaching tool that inspires students at every level of education and across many different disciplines. For example, Elvis Presley Enterprises (2009) provided an online lesson plan to teach students “about the life of Elvis Presley and how he overcame poverty … [and] the importance of setting their own goals and dreams” (p. 1). The plan includes listening to two of Elvis’ songs, Confidence and If I Can Dream, and analyzing the lyrics for messages about setting goals. In Kariz Kids programs we use similar approaches to this method. Using more current popular artists enables us to connect with the youth on a more culturally relevant basis. After students listen to these songs, we create a discussion about the messages in the lyrics. We use this as a warm up and ice breaker to bridge the lesson into the project of them creating their own song for cause and addressing the issues they care about and relate to the most.

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