A community is not only a group of people living in the same area, but also a group of people who share common problems and interests. It is the context in which children develop, especially during adolescence when peers play an increasingly important role in the lives of children and young people. Therefore, the community has a great responsibility in preventing behavioural problems and creating an environment that enables children and young people to fulfil their potential and ensure positive development. The thesis is part of the research conducted within the project "Frontline Politeia - Take prevention science training to the substance use and crime prevention frontline" (head of the research project for Croatia Prof. Martina Ferić, Ph.D.). The purpose of this thesis is to gain insight into the risk and protective factors in the community environment from the perspective of the young people of Jastrebarsko in order to better understand their needs. The aim of the thesis are to examine the assessment of risk and protective factors in the community environment on a sample of upper elementary school students and to determine whether the assessment of risk and protective factors in the community environment differs depending on the gender and age of the research participants. The conduct of the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation of the University of Zagreb and the Ministry of Science and Education. The research was conducted in the area of the towns of Jastrebarsko and Samobor, and for the purposes of this thesis, the sample consists of students from 5th to 8th grade of the Elementary School Ljubo Babić Jastrebarsko. The CTC Youth Survey was used for data collection (Mihić, Novak and Bašić, 2011). The results obtained show that the risk factors studied are relatively highly rated in the community. No statistically significant differences were found in the assessment of risk and protective factors in the community in relation to the gender of the participants. Statistically significant differences were found in the assessment of the presence of factors in relation to the age of the participants: rewards for prosocial involvement in the community, community disorganisation, laws and norms favourable to drug use, and perceived availability of drugs. The results of the study show that there is a medium to large effect of age differences in the assessment of protective and risk factors where the existence of differences was found. The results of this study may contribute to a better understanding of specific developmental outcomes, as well as preventive action related to specific risks associated with gender and age.