The 40 Assets: John Conlan From The Pigman

Do you go to school most days a week? Do you acknowledge that drugs and alcohol are bad at a young age? And do you have a caring family? I bet you answered “yes” to if not all, then two of these questions. But if you were John Conlan, from the Pigman, you would have answered “no” to all of those questions above. John and Lorraine are the main characters in this book, who don’t have best the lives, but they meet a surprising friend because of a surprising way. This friend, Mr Pignati, passes away suddenly after they meet. The children then realize their responsibility they have, how to grow up. The 40 assets is a list of set skills, experiences, relationships, and behavioral acts, young people should have in their life. The Search Institute released these in 1990. John is lacking Restraint, Family Support, and School Engagement; the absence of these assets affects his life by not helping him grow and get the things he needs to become successful. …show more content…
School Engagement is an important asset because it builds responsibility, intelligence, and social skills. An example of John not caring about his school is he always skips. “The next day we cut school...” ( Zindel 50 ). This is self-explanatory about how this tells about how they skip school and aren’t engaged. Furthermore, John makes bombs made out of firecrackers and he puts them in the bathrooms. “They called me the Bathroom Bomber. They called me that because I set off bombs in the bathroom” ( Zindel 1 ). This shows he doesn’t care if he gets in trouble and he has no feelings for school. John has to have more engagement in school to be able to help his future and