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 Youth
Development
[ Return to Top ] Children's Gifts to Last a Lifetime
As JoAnn Matthis, a Utah State Home Economist says, the above lasting gifts can be summed up as follows, “Our most valuable gifts are those which when shared, multiply. Our least valuable gifts are those which when divided, are diminished.” SOURCE: Glen O. Jenson, Ph.D., Department of Family and Human Development, Utah State University. [ Return to Top ] Get Back to Basics with Gift Giving for
Children Parents and other family members should get back to basics with gift giving for children. You might even go so far as to not ask for a list, but devise your own list to include items that are reliable and sound for promoting developmentally appropriate play for children. This might not be as easy as it sounds, because many adults are also out of touch with what constitutes basic play items and toys. The following is a list of some suggested items for various age groups of children. In fact, you can just cut it out and put it in your wallet so you’re ready for your next shopping trip. Children birth to 18 months:
rattles, pounding and stacking toys, squeak toys, floating tub toys,
picture blocks, push-pull toys, nesting boxes or cups, stacking toys,
board books, musical and chime toys Children 3 to 6 years: dress up clothes, baby dolls, puppets and theatres, toy phone and clock, playhouses, housekeeping toys, toy soldiers, small trucks, cars, planes and boats, simple construction sets, sleds, wagons, crayons, paper, markers, scissors, story books, and cassette tapes of music and stories Children 6 to 9 years old: board games, tabletop sports games, marbles, tops, kites, toy typewriter, books, cook books, ice and roller skates, science and craft kits, construction sets, doll houses, magic sets, sports equipment, and things to add to an ongoing “collection” Children 9 to 12 years: model kits, craft kits, chemistry and other science kits, magic sets, advanced construction sets and handicraft kits, jigsaw puzzles, card and board games, checkers and chess, table tennis, sports equipment, drawing sets, bicycles, and ice and roller skates After age 12, children’s interests in toys begin to merge with adults’. This is apparent in the growing market for sophisticated electronic and video computer-based games that are often considered family entertainment rather than toys. Teens will also be interested in board and adventure games, especially those with business themes. Doll, model car, train, miniatures, and stuffed animal collectors often begin their hobbies in the teen-age years. Remember, although it is tempting to buy your child all the pricey, popular toy items available on the market today, they still need to benefit from the play value of the basics listed above. Probably the best gift of all would be the time and attention you could give them by playing together. SOURCE: Bonnie-Jo Westendorf, CCE Educator, Columbia County, 12/95 [ Return to Top ] The Fourth R: Responsibility Raising a responsible child is a parent’s responsibility. It requires that parents provide a positive role model for cooperation and that parents are willing to work with the child and help the child master self-care, family chores and schoolwork. Parents need to give responsibilities in proportion to a child’s age and ability, to be clear about theirexpectations and to give children real choices that promote decision-making and self-direction. According to Tim Jahn, Human Development Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Suffolk County, developing a sense of responsibility and learning the skills needed to fulfill one’s obligations can start early. Your toddler can learn how to put away toys and clean up small spills. Show your toddler how to put away their toys. Work together to demonstrate cooperation and to insure satisfactory completion of the task. Eventually, your preschooler will learn how to do many self-care duties: bathing, brushing teeth, choosing clothes to wear, dressing and much more as their physical and mental abilities allow. They can also learn to contribute to family chores by setting orclearing the table, sorting laundry or taking care of pets. Be sure to positively reinforce correct behavior, but don’t overdo praise and rewards. Jahn reminds parents that children need to learn that following through with responsibilities and becoming responsible can be its own reward and helps them become competent and independent persons. Responsibilities for school-age children increase. In addition to self-care and family chores, school children have a responsibility to complete their schoolwork and homework in a satisfactory fashion. As school-age children become more independent, they should be given more responsibility for deciding about and managing their own personal resources such as allowances, free time and friendships. Instead of dictating rules and responsibilities with older elementary children and pre-teens, parents would be wise to discuss and negotiate their child’s role in the family. Jahn stresses that while expectations and limits are still needed, these cannot be imposed if the parent wants to insure ongoing cooperation. And, after all, it is cooperation that we are seeking. Raising a responsible teen will not happen overnight. Unless your child has acquired a sense of responsibility and been given a responsible role in the family, you can expect many battles over just about everything. Don’t try to “win” these battles since either you or your teen will end up losing and feeling resentful. Instead, discuss your concerns and expectations in a calm, mature manner. Be clear about the consequences of irresponsible behavior or what will happen if your teen does not complete home-work assignments or fails to clean his/her room. Let your teen know how you will help and what you will not do under any circumstances (like vacuum his/her room after a month’s accumulation of dust bunnies). Jahn suggests that by the teenage years, a young person should be completely in charge of some aspects of his/her life like grooming, schoolwork, employment responsibilities and keeping his/her bedroom in an acceptable condition. Like teachers trying to teach kids the
three “R’s”, parents need to constantly plan, motivate and evaluate in
order to teach their children the fourth “R”: RESPONSIBILITY. Help Your Child Be A Good Sport Other parents slap their printed programs against their hand or their seat. Some yell at their children to do this or that. On the other hand, there are parents in attendance who model good sportsmanship. They watch the game with interest. They cheer and enjoy the game. They tell their children how proud they are of their achievements. Their children know that no matter how they perform on the playing field, they are loved unconditionally. Sportsmanship is defined in the Webster New World Dictionary as “characteristics of or behavior befitting a person who can take loss or defeat without complaint or victory without gloating and who treats his opponents with fairness, generosity, courtesy, etc.” Lois Clark, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent with Ohio State University Extension, recommends that parents should:
Lois Clark offers some tips for parents to help their children as they learn these new skills:
Sportsmanship can be summed up in three words – courtesy, respect, and consideration. Participation in sporting events provides children with opportunities to learn and acquire these traits. Parents should model for and encourage their children to exemplify sportsmanship that fosters this learning. [ Return to Top ] Essential Elements of 4-H In 1999, a team of evaluators from the National 4-H Impact Design Implementation Team was given the charge of answering the question, “What positive outcomes in youth, adults and communities result from the presence of critical elements in a 4-H experience?”
SOURCE: Prepared by Cathann A. Kress, Assistant Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension, 4/2001 as used in “the Power of Youth” newsletter of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Otsego County, March [ Return to Top ] Feeding the Birds Recent Cornell Studies suggest a veritable boom in backyard bird feeding. In one New York county alone, one out of two rural homes has a bird feeder, while wholesale dealers report a steady increase in wild bird feed sales. Backyard bird feeders allow you to closely observe bird behavior and enjoy the sheer pleasure of attracting and providing food for birds. Bird feeders offer a great opportunity for families to spend quality time together. The project can be as simple or as expansive as your family decides. But, there’s a right and wrong way to feed birds. Ideally, you should set up your feeder in the fall when migrating birds constantly pass through our area slowly diminishing the available food supply. Winter resident birds such as bluejays, chickadees and sparrows must find a suitable feeding area for winter. However, if you decide to set out your feeder too late during the winter season, the birds you’re likely to attract will have already included other backyards in their fall-scouted feed area and may indeed ignore yours completely. \When setting up a feeding station, in effect, you create an unnatural situation with an unusually high bird population. Unless you provide protection for the birds, you may find yourself feeding neighborhood cats, while bluejays and squirrels take more than their share. If you are unable to guard your feeder all day, specialized and restrictive feeders are available. Escape cover become equally important – an ornamental tree, hedge, pile of branches or used Christmas trees are effective. To avoid concentration of birds, it’s advisable to have more than one feeder. Since birds become increasingly dependent, don’t start feeding at all if you plan on a few weeks away – unless you can find a reliable neighbor to fill the feeder. A variety of bird feeders are available to build or buy. Suet feeders attract insect-eating birds, such as woodpeckers, chickadees, juncos and nuthatches. Open bird tables attract many seed-eating birds. These open tables offer easy access and are readily visible to birds. The disadvantages of open tables include lack of protection from wind and rain, and the higher incidence of feeder-raids by birds and mammals such as hawks, rats and squirrels. Covered feeders have the advantage of protecting the feed from the elements and are not as easily accessible to predators. A predator guard (a plastic sleeve or an inverted cone) can be placed around the feeder pole to prevent predators such as cats and raccoons from reaching the feeding birds. Also be mindful of branches overhead from which animal thieves can drop onto bird feeders. Understanding bird-feeding habits helps eliminate competition between species. For example, bluejays often take the seeds and store them for later, while chickadees and nuthatches crack the seeds at the feeder. Cardinals and sparrows feed on the ground and woodpeckers prefer suet mounted to a tree, an upright feeder or hanging in a mesh bag. Different types of bird feed will attract different types of birds. Large seeds, such as sunflower, attract cardinals, bluejays, nuthatches, and grosbeaks; smaller seeds (white proso millet) and cracked corn draw sparrows and juncos. Thistle (niger) seed will bring many goldfinches around. Woodpeckers and chickadees often eat suet. Fruit-eating birds such as cedar waxwings, robins and mockingbirds can often be attracted all winter long by raisins, cut apples and berries picked and frozen in summer and fall. As your family begins to recognize the different bird species, you may want to add different feeders with different kinds of food to attract different visitors. Providing water is desirable, but not necessary. Birds require water for both drinking and bathing. Birdbaths can be made inexpensively at home from an old tire or an inverted garbage can lid. Change the water often during mosquito breeding season. Locate your feeder on the south side of the house in position to get the first morning light, so birds can feed easily. During very cold weather, this might make a big difference, for if they have to use up stored energy, they might not live through the night. Feeders should be placed far enough away from large windows so that the birds do not fly into them. Also, windows can be marked with stickers, shades or other substances that show there is a barrier present. It is important to remove all moldy seeds from the feeder. Some molds produce by-products that are toxic to birds. Molding may occur as a result of rain or other dampness, so open feeders should be cleaned out after wet weather. Suet feeders may become rancid during periods of hot weather. It is best to avoid feeding suet during the summer. [ Return to Top ] 4-H Develops Life Skills A primary goal of the 4-H Youth Development program is to help youth learn life skills. These skills are abilities, which once developed, can be used in many ways throughout a lifetime. A life skill can be defined as “an ability that is necessary and useful throughout life.” These skills include “thinking,” “doing,” and “feeling” abilities used in many situations. The life skills learned through our 4-H program are those which contribute positively to productive, healthy and competent lives. Learning together is the key to success.
Planning programs with youth is sharing the leadership role and helping
them develop the life skills they will need throughout their adult years. Enhancing Learning Skills- Developing an interest in learning and an inquiring mind. This is accomplished through hands-on learning, and includes capitalizing on curiosity and use of competitive and cooperative learning methods. 4-Hers increase their abilities to identify needs and sources of knowledge. Examples of activities which enhance learning skills are working on 4-H projects, preparing for a public presentation, participating in a quiz bowl or animal clinic. Strengthening and Using Decision-Making Skills- Learning to make decisions, individually and collectively. This involves assessing needs and interests, identifying resources, setting goals and priorities and accepting the risk of taking action. 4-Hers use their knowledge, skills and values in practicing this life skill. Examples of activities which strengthen and use decision-making skills include planning a fund-raiser or other special club events, deciding what 4-H project to undertake for the year, and deciding which animal to exhibit at the fair. Developing a Positive Self-Concept- Self-concept is a belief about oneself which helps a person to successfully meet challenges and cope with the issues of life. This includes recognizing your and others’ values; appreciating cultural heritage of self and others; defining your role within the family, peer group and society; and evaluating your strengths and weaknesses. In addition, developing self-concept involves building self-esteem and self-confidence, as well as learning to accept success and failure, criticism and praise. Examples of activities which help a 4-Her to develop a positive self-concept include completion of a project, doing something successfully for the first time, participating in project evaluation, and serving in leadership roles. Communicating With and Relating to Other People- developing communication skills that enhance the ability to understand and respect another’s point of view. 4-Hers also develop the ability to be objective, deal constructively with conflict and recognize and respect others’ worth. Activities that teach youth to communicate with and relate to other people include being in a club, public presentations, community service activities, participating in county-wide events, receiving newsletters, record-keeping, serving as camp counselors or in other leadership roles, participating in cooperative and competitive events. Relating to the Needs of Others and the Community- Becoming aware of the concerns of the people who live there and taking action to meet the needs. Activities which teach 4-Hers to respond to the needs of others and the community include community service projects, participating as youth members of advisory groups, environmental education projects and inter-state/international exchanges. Paid and volunteer staff of the 4-H Youth Development Program teach those skills through group and individual learning opportunities. While the learning experiences are “hands-on” and deal with topics of current interest, they also develop basic, transferable skills useful in other settings. SOURCE: Rosalind Johnson Friedman, The “NEWS”, CCE of Columbia County, September 2003. [ Return to Top ] Tips for Battling the Homework Wars
[ Return to Top ] 4-H Member Record Book General Instructions All 4-H members in Fulton and Montgomery Counties must complete a 4-H Member Record Book as a requirement to completion of the 4-H program year. For animal projects, 4-H members must complete the Animal Record Book as a supplement to the 4-H Member Record Book. Files in Microsoft Word Format
(.doc): Files in Adobe PDF format: You
will need Adobe Reader to read these files. It
is a free download. [ Return to Top ] Food Animal Production: Combining Traditional Practices and Modern Tools Americans enjoy the safest, most abundant food supply on Earth. It's also the most affordable. The average American pays a little less than 11 percent of his or her disposable income on food the lowest rate in the world. In 2002, it took only 39 days to earn enough to pay for food for an entire year. As recently as 1970, it took 51 days. While housing and health care costs continue to rise, food has actually become more affordable. Why? Because of the efficiency and productivity of American farmers and ranchers. They're constantly fine-tuning their growing and breeding practices and using new technologies to boost their yields. The Agriculture Research Service (ARS) plays a major role in developing the knowledge base and technologies that allow U.S. producers to meet consumer needs. For example, according to the Economic Research Service, the average American eats about 194 pounds of red meat, poultry, and fish in a year-16 pounds above the level eaten in 1970. Meeting such demands while keeping costs down and maintaining the quality consumers expect is no easy task. In this regard, ARS has developed a Food Animal Production Action Plan. It supports improvements in reproductive and nutrient intake efficiency as well as product quality. The plan also supports conservation and use of genetic resources, development of genomic tools, and continued study of integrated systems and animal growth and development. With scientists stationed at labs across the United States, they look at questions related to these different areas and use the resulting data in ways that will serve producers and, ultimately, consumers. Take the problem facing competing cattle producers in the Southeast. Thirty to 40 percent of the nation's beef cattle is produced there, and almost all these animals have some Brahman in their genetic makeup. Brahmans are more resistant to heat and pests than are breed types that evolved in more temperate climates. But they produce tougher steaks, and this can reduce consumers' satisfaction. The ARS Subtropical Agricultural Research Station in Brooksville, Florida, is trying to overcome the Brahman toughness problem. Scientists are looking for genetic variation within the breed that would allow producers to choose sires based on the beef tenderness of their progeny and other characteristics. The have also started crossbreeding Angus, Brahman, and Romosinuano cattle to develop a line that imparts the benefits of a tropically adapted breed as well as improved carcass quality and reproductive efficiency. Halfway across the continent, researchers at ARS' Roman L Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska, are using genetic diversity among sheep breeds to improve production efficiency. They are currently looking into streamlining sheep production systems by developing easy-care, meat-yielding breeds. One possibility they're exploring? Breeds of sheep that don't need to be sheared. The ARS National Animal Germplasm Program, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, is helping to preserve genetic diversity within food-animal populations. The program provides a safe repository for frozen semen or embryos from beef and dairy cattle, poultry, swine, sheep, goats, and aquatic animals. These genetic resources could help researchers solve future food-production problems. Information systems help compile and quantify the massive amounts of production data collected on different animals. ARS researchers are harnessing the power of computer modeling to simulate production systems and uncover the economic value of different traits. Modeling studies undertaken at Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles, City, Montana, are helping producers find bulls that will produce the most profitable offspring. Computers are also helping ARS researchers and others map the bovine, chicken, pig, sheep, and trout genomes, among others. When complete, these genetic road maps will provide additional information that researchers and producers can use to produce leaner, more tender, more fertile animals. In the meantime, ARS will continue to combine traditional breeding programs with other tools at their disposal to sustain and increase food-animal productivity to benefit producers and consumers alike. Source: Joseph T. Spence, Acting Associate Administrator, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland. Agricultural Research Magazine, April 2003 . [ Return to Top ] [ Return to Top ] Superb Trout It's a Matter of Muscle Some fans of rainbow trout have dubbed their favorite fish "nature's fast food." That's because it takes only a few minutes to pan-fry, grill, or microwave this tasty fish. Trout's tender, delicately flavored meat is, of course, muscle. Farm-raised trout put on muscle as they swim against the gentle, steady current that runs through the tanks, ponds, or channel-like raceways they grow up in. New studies should help researchers and rainbow trout breeders more easily single out fish that have the genetic makeup to develop more muscle more quickly. Agriculture Research Service (ARS) fish geneticist Kenneth E. Overturf is doing this work with ARS and University of Idaho colleagues. Of particular interest: trout that muscle up rapidly on environmentally friendly, grain-based feeds, made from oats or barley, for instance. Why the need for faster-growing fish with a hearty appetite for grain? First, to meet tomorrow's demand for farm-raised fish. Projections indicate that U.S. aquaculture production will have to increase by 500 percent over the next 25 years to satisfy America's needs. Second, to lessen the need to harvest ocean fish, such as menhaden or jack mackerel. Today, these species are key ingredients in feeds for their on-farm cousins. Overturf, who is with ARS; Idaho-based Small Grains and Potato Research Unit, has developed a high-tech test that sizes up a key aspect of a trout's growth. The test correlates the presence of a telltale proteinmyosinto muscle growth. Results give users a valuable new way to pinpoint trout that have, in their genetic makeup, a superior ability to convert feed into muscle. He did the studies with rainbow trout at the University of Idaho's Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station, about 90 miles southeast of Boise. Overturf's test provides reliable results very quicklyand doesn't harm the fish. It can be performed at a research laboratory or at any commercial lab equipped to run leading-edge tests known as real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. The test could identify the best-performing rainbow trout as prospective super-parents, or brood-stock, of new generations. The assay is based on a key fact that researchers have known for years: myosin, the protein that's the basis of Overturf's new assay, is an important part of muscle in fish and other animals. Explains Overturf, "Trout that are active users of energy from their feed and are vigorous producers of Nyosin develop more muscle and grow more quickly. These fish also have less fat. That's because they're converting a large proportion of their feed into muscle, instead of storing it as fat." Overturf's test is the first to use newly emerging real-time PCR technology to assess how actively a rainbow trout's myosin gene is working. Real-time PCR is named for the fact that it accomplishes the many separate, time-consuming steps of conventional PCR all at once, or in what is essentially "real time." In related work, Overturf has created real-time PCR assays for analyzing nearly two dozen other gene-derived natural compounds in troutin addition to myosin, He's done some of that work with his university colleagues. These assays find, for example, key proteins in trout that indicate a strong immune system, necessary to protect the fish from viruses or bacteria. The real-time PCR assays are a spin-off of efforts by ARS researchers at Leetown, West Virginiaand by scientists elsewhere in the United States and abroadto locate and decipher the functions of all the genes in rainbow trout, called the trout genome. Discoveries about the makeup of the trout myosin gene, for instance, provided information Overturf needed to develop the myosin assay. All the new assays from the Hagerman laboratory are "an immediate, practical application of the rainbow trout genome investigations," says Lewis W. Smith, ARS National Program Leader for Aquaculture Research. The myosin assay was also based, in part, on earlier studies by Overturf and colleague Ronald W. Hardy, director of the Hagerman station. The work yielded new details about the relation of myosin to rainbow trout's prowess in converting feed to muscle. Overturf and Hardy published their findings in Aquaculture Research, a British scientific journal. SOURCE: Marcia Wood, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff [ Return to Top ] Speeding Up Data Delivery for Precision Agriculture Up in the sky, it's a bird!...It's a plane!...No, it's the solution to a problem plaguing farmers nationwide who want to adopt precision agriculture techniques! Using aerial photographs taken from airplanes, those farmers can get detailed overviews of their croplands to see which plants look healthy and which don't. But because of the size of the digital files these photographs are stored in, until recently, the only way farmers have been able to see the results is for the photos to be printed and hand-delivered to them. Now, what used to take days takes just minutes another important advancement in precision agriculture technology. Johnie N. Jenkins is heading a team of Agriculture Research Service (ARS) scientists at Mississippi State, Mississippi, in developing a high-speed wireless networking system that will allow farmers to download aerial images via the Internet onto their personal computers, laptops, or even better their PDAs (personal digital assistant, or hand-held PC) in a cost-effective and efficient way. Even though PDA screens are small, farmers could scroll down the screen to see these images. By using their PDAs, farmers could go out to their fields, download the respective aerial images, and use Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates to quickly locate problem areas. This would allow them to take care of whatever ails their crops just minutes after the aerial images were taken. The wireless local area network can also be used to download application maps directly to tractors or other machinery, eliminating time-consuming steps and reducing the chance of human error. For the past 3 years, Jenkins, a geneticist and research leader for the ARS Genetics and Precision Agriculture Research Unitalong with ARS technicians Kimber Gourley and Wendell Ladnerhas worked with the Paul Good Farm in Noxubee, County, Mississippi, near Macon. In a cooperative agreement, they have been evaluating the utility of this emerging farming tool. Jenkins' team has tested various internet connections to see which would make this system work best. Dial-up Internet modem connections are slow, making it impractical to download multi-megabyte aerial photography files. Digital subscriber lines, or DSL, are much faster than dial-up modems. But since farmers must live within 18,000 feet of a local central switching system to use DSL, this service is also unusable by most of them. According to Jenkins, farmers' best option for high-speed downloads of aerial cropland photos would be satellite Internet access through any of the several service providers. The technology is not cheapthe receiver box costs about $500, and subscription service is $89.95 per month for small businesses. But the benefits may be worth the costs. "With these images, we can classify growth patterns, habitats, and insects that cause crop damage," says Jenkins. "It will help decide where to spray and not to spray. There will be tremendous savings on the cost of fertilizers and insecticideswhich can harm the environmentand that will help the farmers' bottom line." James McKinion, an electronics engineer; Sam Turner, a retired computer specialist; Jeff Willers, an entomologist; and John Read, an agronomist; have all taken part in this ongoing study. SOURCE: Alfredo Flores, Agriculture Research Service Information Staff [ Return to Top ] Grandparents Can Contribute to Children's School Success Whether they live next door, in the next town or thousands of miles away, grandparents can play an important role in children's educations. Mary Brintall-Peterson, a University of Wisconsin-Extension specialist on aging, said a recent national survey of school principals and grandparents found 99 percent of all principals believe grandparents are important to a child's success in school. The study sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and World Book educational Products, found five key ways in which grandparents help children do well in school. Strategies grandparents can use: Ask children about events in their lives and at school. Keep in touch with school activities. Rather than ask how school is going, be specific. Ask children what book they are reading, what their favorite part of the school day is, or what they are studying in a certain subject. Talk to your adult children about ways you can help your grandchild in school. If children are studying a certain time period, share experiences from your own life in that period or what you learned in school about that time. Write notes to your grandchildren, even if you live nearby, passing along a favorite joke or asking specific questions. Ask children's opinions about current events or issues that kids are studying in class. Praise children, not for their accomplishments, but for their effort. Tell your grandchildren why you are praising them if they put special effort into a project or pursued more information about a topic that interested them. Avoid comparisons between siblings or between your adult children and your grandchildren. Look beyond sports to praise your grandkids on a variety of things how they played fairly, for following rules or listening carefully. Write a special note or invite your grandchildren on a special outing in recognition of their effort. Participate in your grandchildren's school. If you live far away, try to plan a visit during a special school activity sometime during the year. If you can't attend a special event, come to school with your grandchild. Meet the teacher, and even ask if you can be a guest speaker or read a book to the class. You might want to share a hobby with the class or be a regular volunteer at your grandchild's school. Learn both by yourself and with your grandchildren. Grandparents can be wonderful role models for children by demonstrating how to be lifelong learners. Read with your grandchild, visit the library together, cook together, and take a class on a topic that interests you. Explain to grandchildren how to learn from mistakes and how to continue learning, even after leaving school. Encourage your grandchildren in their future plans and goals. Let your grandkids know you believe in them and the importance of trying. Demonstrate how to be confident and relaxed. If you as a grandparent are raising your grandchildren, it is important to know the schools and teachers. Get involved in your grandchildren's homework, read together, make school work a priority and stay in contact with the school. SOURCE: Mary Brintall-Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Extension. This publication is distributed through the Grandparenting web site found at http://www.uwex.edu/ces/flp/grandparent/index.html [ Return to Top ] How You Can Help Promote Youth Development Become an advocate for youth-friendly habitats: build smaller schools, neighborhood-based programs that are long-term and don't vanish when the grant runs out, better pay for youth and child care professionals to reduce turnover rates.
SOURCE: Cathann A. Kress, former Assistant Director for 4-H Youth Development, Cornell Cooperative Extension, ACCEE Conference, October 2001. [ Return to Top ] Verbal Jabs and Stabs From Bullies Can Hurt and Even Kill In one of the few books to focus exclusively on all forms of bullying, And Words Can Hurt Forever: How to Protect Adolescents From Bullying, Harassment, and Emotional Violence (The Free Press), the two authors report that up to 77% of middle and high school students in small Midwestern towns have been bullied; and up to one-third of children grades 6 through 10 are involved in serious, frequent bullying, either as bullies themselves or as victims. They describe the extent to which such emotional violence damages today’s youth and what to do about it. “Even in schools that adults consider safe, many children feel threatened, and the adults tend to be oblivious to this fact,” says Garbarino, the co-director of FLDC. “In interviewing teens, we found that despite the good intentions of teachers and administrators, many schools inadvertently support and enable hostile and emotionally violent environments,” he says. And even the best-intentioned parents are in the dark about the realities of emotional violence in the day-to-day experience of their kids at school. “In fact, we found that adolescents themselves said they need more supervision at school,” adds deLara. “This is counter to how we tend to think of what young people want from adults, which is the more typical ‘leave us alone’ attitude. All the kids we interviewed said they need adults to be more aware, provide more supervision and intervene on their behalf in the face of bullying, both physical and verbal.” Many teens think they must endure psychological stabbings because adults aren’t going to do anything; others respond violently. “One of the ways in which kids ‘crack’ is by being violent to themselves, and the worst of this is suicide,” says Garbarino. In 1998-99, for example, 2,700 kids between ages 10 and 19 took their lives; and for every one that succeeded, many others tried. According to one 1998 survey, up to half of all high school kids have “seriously considered” suicide. The 237-page book, intended for teachers, administrators, counselors, and parents, covers the ramifications of emotional violence; who
is likely to bully (including adults), who are the victims, power and groups among adolescents, sexual
harassment and stalking, warning signs, how kids deal with bullying, and specific strategies on what adults in the schools and parents can do. [ Return to Top ] 4-H Youth Development Program Youth need to develop positive assets and skills in decision-making,
problem solving, communications, conflict resolution, citizenship, and leadership. The more assets and life skills youth
possess, the more likely they are to become caring, contributing, and competent citizens. Youth also need to develop relationships with supportive and caring
adults. If you are between the ages 5 and 19, or if you are an adult interested in working with youth, 4-H may be for you. 4-H is the youth development program of Cornell Cooperative Extension. Through hands-on learning, the 4-H Youth Development Program in the 57 counties in New York State and in New York City creates supportive, fun learning environments that help youth and adult volunteers reach their fullest potential as capable, competent, and caring citizens. The 4-H Club system is the learning environment that is most recognized, whether it is an organized group of youth and adult volunteers in a neighborhood or a group working with a special interest topic such as Science & Technology or Community Service Learning. School programs, day or overnight camping, and individual memberships are other ways that youth can join in the fun. Cornell Cooperative Extension appreciates diversity, values volunteerism, and partners with community organizations and schools to make a difference for youth, families, and communities. |
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