Issue #15

4-H and Youth Development

 

 

Problem, Opportunity Statement

 

The 4-H and Youth Development POW will utilize a community youth development framework (Villarruel, Perkins, Borden, & Keith, 2003).  Thus, the POW will focus its efforts on promoting life skills and civic engagement for several reasons.  First, according to the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council’s book entitled, Community Programs to Promote Youth Development (Eccles, & Gootman, 2002), youth need access to opportunities to: (1) engage in learning activities and events that foster their skills and competencies; (2) build positive relationships with caring adults; (3) contribute to their community; and (4) have multi-cultural experiences. Second, youth have large amounts of free time where there is a lack of adult presence and supervision. This free time can be an opportunity for youth to learn skills and contribute to their communities or it can be opportunity for youth to engage in risk behaviors. These reasons are more clearly delineated in the paragraphs below.

 

Non-formal, community-based youth organizations (CBO’s), like 4-H Youth Development Programs, offer important opportunities for socialization and learning. They offer youth a context which develops critical life skills, fosters citizenship, and promotes leadership. Youth programs employ structured activities as a vehicle or strategy for promoting the positive development of youth.  These programs occur during out-of-school hours at times that include before and after-school, evenings, weekends, and during the summer.  If designed appropriately, youth programs offer a safe environment that provides opportunities for youth to explore their world, develop skills, and gain a sense of belonging with peers and adults as well as within themselves.  Indeed, many studies have documented that youth participation in school and community-based youth programs can contribute to a variety of positive developmental outcomes (increased life skills, increased workforce skills, active engagement in the community through citizenship and leadership) (Hamilton & Hamilton, 2004).  In addition, community-based youth programs have been found to increase resiliency and protective factors in youth (Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, & Hawkins, 1999; Redd, Cochran, Hair, & Moore, 2002). Moreover, youth who are retained in community-based youth organizations over several years are more likely to thrive than youth who become disengaged after a shorter period of time (Eccles, & Gootman, 2002).

 

During adolescence, young people have a significant amount of free time available to them.  For instance, one research study found that approximately 40 percent of the waking hours of a sample of high school youth were spent in leisure time (Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1984).  With the exception of school and sleep, youth in America spend more time watching television then they do on anything else (Hofferth, 1998). It is also important to note that much of that time may be spent without companionship or supervision from adults (Carnegie Council On Adolescence, 1995). Out-of-school time can be either an opportunity for youth to engage in positive activities that enhance their development and foster their competency, or a time to participate in negative activities that increase their chances of yielding to social pressures to do things like engage in drug use, sex, and antisocial activities (Villarruel & Lerner, 1994).  For example, FBI statistics indicate that 47 percent of violent juvenile crime occurs on weekdays, between the hours of 2 and 8 p.m. (Snyder & Sickmund, 1997).  In contrast, Larson (2000) suggests that important life skills may be gained more readily in out-of-school contexts than in school. Indeed, the seminal book by the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (Eccles, & Gootman, 2002) highlighted and provide strong scientific evidence of the value of youth’s involvement in community-based youth programming in fostering positive development through the development of life skills and connections to the community.

 

References

 

Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development. (1995). Great Transitions: Preparing Adolescents for a New Century. New York: Carnegie Corporation.

Catalano, R. F., Berglund, M. L., Ryan, J. A., Lonczak, H. S., & Hawkins, J. D. (1999).  Positive youth development in the United States : Research findings on evaluations of positive youth development programs.   Available from Seattle, WA:  University of Washington, School of Social Work, Social Development Research Group. http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/PositiveYouthDev99.

Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1984).  Being adolescent: Conflict and growth in the teenage years.  New York:  Basic Books.

Eccles, J. S., & Gootman, J. A. (Eds.). (2002). Community Programs to Promote Youth Development/Committee on Community-Level Programs for Youth. Washington DC: National Academy Press.

Hamilton, S. F., & Hamilton, M. A. (2004).  The Youth Development Handbook: Coming of Age in America.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Hofferth, S. 1998. "The American Family: Changes and Challenges for the 21st Century." Pp. 3-12 in Health and Welfare for Families in the 21st Century, edited by H. Wallace, G. Green, K. Jaros, M. Story, and L. Paine. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Larson, R. W. (2000).  Toward a psychology of positive youth development.  American Psychologist, 55, 170-183.

Redd, Z., Cochran, S., Hair, E., & Moore, K. (2002). Academic Achievement Programs and Youth Development: A Synthesis. Washington, DC: Child Trends.

Snyder, H., & Sickmund, M.  (1997).  Juvenile offenders and victim: 1997 update on violence.  Washington, DC:  U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Villarruel, F. A., & Lerner, R. M. (Eds). (1994). New Directions for Child Development: Promoting community-based programs for socialization and learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Villarruel, F. A., Perkins, D. F., Borden, L. M., & Keith, J. G.  (2003).   Community youth development: Practice, Policy, and Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 

 

 

Subject Matter Areas

 

·        Life and Social Skill Development

·        Project/Content Skill Development

·        Citizenship & Civic Development

·        Character Development

·        Prevention Education (includes major risk behaviors: alcohol and drug use, teenage pregnancy, delinquency and violence)

·        Leadership Development (Link to the Leadership POW)

 

 

Program Titles and/or Program Topics1

 

·        4-H Clubs (community and projects)

·        School Enrichment Programs

·        Special Interests & Short Term Projects

·        After-School (School-Age Childcare) Programs

·        Camps

·        Individual Studies/Mentoring

·        Statewide Specialist Program Support

__________

1 Note: Since the 4-H Youth Development Program has 383 project titles, the topics have been categorized by type/delivery method. 

 

 

Resources

 

  • 4-H and Youth Development
    • Funding
    • Curriculum
    • Time and expertise of faculty
    • Time and expertise of staff
    • Youth
    • Volunteers
    • Promotional Materials
    • Professional Development
    • Community Input
    • Community Support
    • Supportive Collaborators in Community (e.g., Schools, YMCA)

 

 

Indicators

 

  • Number of youth increasing decision-making skills (Skills for Everyday Living Measure).
  • Number of youth increasing problem-solving skills (Skills for Everyday Living Measure).
  • Number of youth increasing goal setting skills (Skills for Everyday Living Measure).
  • Number of youth increasing critical thinking skills (Skills for Everyday Living Measure).
  • Number of youth who practice the six pillars of good character
  • Number of youth who use conflict resolution skills to resolve a problem
  • Number of youth participating in a community service project.
  • Number of youth who report knowledge gain in a project area in a POW Issue.
  • Number of youth who report knowledge gain in a non-POW Issue project area.
  • Number of youth who progress from local participation to regional, state, national, and international activities and events.
  • Number of youth who participate in a service learning project.
  • Number of 4-H clubs who participated in a service learning project.
  • Number of hours the youth report participating in a service learning project.
  • Number of youth who stay involved in 4-H for four or more years.
  • Number of 4-H youth who become adult leaders.