Helping Deprived Youth

Can Extension play a significant role in helping socioeconomically deprived youth? These youth will have to survive in a society that's becoming more technical and information-based. The expected answer might be that Extension's not prepared for that role. However, my personal and professional experience suggests otherwise. If Extension applies the educational model of Booker T. Washington, founder and first president of Tuskegee Institute, it can be a significant force for change in young lives.

At the end of the Civil War, rural American families were ravaged by war and unprepared for the growing industrial revolution. The pre-Civil War southern society had been based on an agrarian way of life, depending on an unskilled labor force. For there to be a new South, a revolution had to take place. The success of this revolution depended on the development of the black American society and its way of life. Black Americans, as a whole, were illiterate, poor, malnourished, and unskilled. They needed a leader to address these issues, and Booker T. Washington filled that need.

Washington extended the university's knowledge to the people in language they could understand. He improved their day-to-day lives. He knew technical training was important, but also knew people were intimidated by change and the professionals who tried to initiate change. People often were afraid and reluctant to ask questions. They assumed professionals would "look down" on them.

So Washington brought technical skills and self-worth to the people by enlisting the help of community leaders: preachers, teachers, and philanthropists. These community leaders developed an infrastructure in the community that provided a link for practical leadership. Many of these leaders became Extension agents. They encouraged the people to improve their skills in reading, writing, and hygiene. They encouraged land stewardship and ownership, the development of cooperatives and credit unions, the latest farming practices, canning and preserving foods, quilt -making, nutrition, and even children's games that helped build character. Before the Tuskegee Institute began its Extension program, more than 90% of black Americans lived in the rural South. They continued to live there until the early 1900s. As Washington's three E's of empowerment, entrepreneurship, and education were infused into the communities, the United States witnessed a great migration of confident, black Americans to jobs in the northern industrial cities.

Today, low-resource families confront problems similar to those a hundred years ago. They're faced with a lack of skills and motivation. They need a hand-not a handout-and the reapplication of the three E's to meet the challenges of a new revolution. The U.S. Census Bureau has predicted that by the 21st century the American workforce will depend on its nonwhite population. Is America prepared? Who will give leadership and direction?

While growing up in Alabama, I came to respect and admire Extension. The Alabama Cooperative Extension Service has three Extension agents in each of at least 16 "blackbelt" counties within the state. The Alabama Cooperative Extension Service joined Tuskegee University CES, Auburn University CES, and the Alabama A&M CES to form one organization. As a result, during the summer months, I could depend on the three county agents coming to my home and vying for my interest. We talked about my life, upcoming 4-H contests, goal-setting, responsibility, and other topics important to me. I had three positive role models to identify with, and to help me develop my self-efficacy. Had it not been for these men, I wouldn't be pursuing a Ph.D. in agricultural education. I'd be among my 15 former playmates who graduated into a life of drugs, crime, skillessness, deprivation, and death.

With guidance from these Extension agents, I went on to college. After graduation, I taught in an Alabama county reported to have one of the poorest and least-educated populations in the state. Like my home, this county was fortunate enough to be one of the counties under the direction of all three Extension units.

My students' expectations were extremely low in this rural community. My priority was to instill the three E's into my agricultural education students. I began by setting high standards, letting the students develop the curriculum, and helping them develop a nonconventional Supervised Occupational Experience Program. I also used writing assignments, speeches, and field trips to encourage them to develop their dreams. I enlisted the help of every professional in the area: the three county agents, SCS staff, ASCS staff, forest service personnel, and anyone else who was interested.

My purpose was to raise their (and my) level of expectations and develop their self-efficacy. I believed in them and that belief worked. After three years of an intensive self-help program, four of my students entered college to major in agricultural education, and two others majored in forestry.

How does my personal story relate to Extension? Extension educators must recognize that many of their special programs aimed toward at-risk youth or low-income families only scratch the surface. Illiteracy, for example, is just one symptom of a greater problem. The real problem is a complex combination of low self-esteem, the rigors of daily survival, nomadic living, and poverty. Extension can be more effective through basic, ongoing, self-help programs that locate and remodel housing, and emphasize the importance of family structure, nutrition, health, and development of the three E's. Extension must help local lay leaders who can empathize with their communities. These approaches will instill individual pride, community pride, and the desire to become someone. It will also stimulate a thirst for knowledge.

The projects should be conducted by the youth, but Extension could serve as counselors and teachers for the programs. Extension should work with agencies that have programs for socioeconomically deprived youth and the expertise needed to inform the public that help exists. Extension could help agencies and community leaders find funds through hands-on grant writing projects.

Yes, Extension agents can be leaders, advisers, counselors, and facilitators to help socioeconomically deprived youth. And with its resources, Extension can affect an audience that Booker T. Washington could scarcely imagine. Today's youth need skills for tomorrow's careers. Too many generations have been lost!