Developing Life Skills in Youth

It's estimated that 25% of our nation's youth engage in "high-risk" activities-heavy alcohol, tobacco, or drug use, delinquency, and poor school performance or non-attendance. An additional 25% are considered to be at moderate risk.1 Almost one -third of our youth fail to graduate from high school. Teen pregnancy is increasing at an alarming rate. Every day in America, 40 teenagers give birth to their third child.2 Because of these high-risk activities, youth become a burden to society instead of contributors.

The number of our nation's youth exhibiting at-risk behavior points to a lack of skills necessary for adulthood-skills in working with others, understanding self, communicating, making decisions, and leadership.3 These skills are required by adults for everyday living and are often called leadership life skills. The development of life skills allows youth to cope with their environment by making responsible decisions, having a better understanding of their values, and being better able to communicate and get along with others.

The development of such skills though experiential learning is the cornerstone of 4-H youth programming. 4-H programming intervenes in a youth's life before the seeds of irresponsible behavior are planted. As Ladewig and Thomas discovered, skills and attitudes formed during youth carry over into adulthood.4 4-H's affiliation with land grant universities and the opportunities provided for parent-child interaction make it a unique youth development program.

As the federal government continues to delegate more responsibilities to states, state budgets will tighten. In such an environment, accountability of state agencies becomes increasingly important. To meet these accountability demands, the strengths and weaknesses of the 4-H program must be documented and these data interpreted to legislators and other key persons.

Such a study of the Texas 4-H program was undertaken in 1990. This study compared the leadership life skill development of 4-H Club members and youth who had never participated in 4-H. The relationship between leadership life skill development and the level of 4-H participation was also examined.

In the Spring of 1991, a leadership life skill inventory was mailed to 500 4-H Club members, ages 13 to 19, who were randomly selected from 19 randomly selected Texas counties. Sixty-two percent (309) responded to questions about their perceived leadership life skill development and 4-H participation. During the same period, 558 non-4-H youth from 28 randomly selected schools in Texas were asked similar questions about their leadership life skill development. The non-4-H sample was chosen from grades seven through 12 so youth of similar ages could be compared.

Respondents answered questions about their perceived leadership life skill development and their participation in 4-H and non-4-H activities. Most of the 21 leadership life skill statements were adapted from the Leadership and Personal Development Inventory developed at Iowa State University.5 These statements were grouped into five measurement scales: working with groups, understanding self, communicating, making decisions, and leadership.6 Participants indicated their perceived development of leadership life skills using a six-point Likert- type scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=slightly disagree, 4=slightly agree, 5=agree, and 6=strongly agree).

Leadership Life Skill Development

The mean scores for each of the leadership life skill scales were compared for significant differences between 4-H Club members and non-4-H youth. A t-test analysis revealed that 4-H Club members perceptions of their development of leadership life skills were significantly higher than the perceptions of non-4-H youth for all measurement scales (see Table 1). As a group, 4-H Club members rated their skill development higher on the scales of working with groups, understanding self, communicating, and making decisions, and lower on the leadership scale. In contrast, the non-4-H sample perceived their skill development as higher on the scales understanding self and working with groups, and lower on the remaining scales.

Effect of Level of Participation

A second question in this study was the relationship of 4-H participation to the development of leadership life skills. This portion of the study was conducted only with the 4-H sample. 4-H participants were given a list of 18 4-H activities and asked to indicate the highest level at which they'd participated in each of the activities. Levels of participation included: 1=none, 2=club, 3=county, 4=district, 5=state, and 6=national. The scores from these activities were then summed to provide a "4-H participation score." Increased participation could mean participating in several activities or participating at a higher level in a few activities.

The Pearson's Product Moment Correlation analysis revealed a low-to-moderate positive and statistically significant relationship between the level of participation in 4-H activities and the perceived development of leadership life skills (see Table 2). The strongest relationships between participation and leadership life skills existed for the scales on leadership, communicating, and working with groups. Participants' level of leadership life skill development increased as their participation in 4-H activities increased.

Specific activities identified during the correlation analysis as having a positive relationship to leadership life skill development included serving as an officer, committee chair/member, serving on 4-H Council, participating in method demonstrations/illustrated talks, public speaking, and judging activities. Again, perceived leadership life skill development increased as participation in these specific activities increased.

This research indicates participation in the 4-H program is positively related to perceived leadership life skill development. 4-H youth rated their development of leadership life skills higher than did non-4-H youth in all five measurement scales. The study also indicated that the level of leadership life skill development increased as the level of 4-H participation increased. What are the implications of these findings for further research and 4-H programming?

While the relationships between 4-H participation and leadership life skill development measures were low for the scales on communicating, working with groups, making decisions, and understanding self, they were statistically significant. Two possibilities exist for why the relationships were low. One explanation is that the relationships between each of the four scales and the development of leadership life skills actually were low. Another possibility is that the research instrument used lacked the precision to detect stronger relationships.

If the goal of youth development programming is to prepare youth for adulthood, then this study indicates that 4-H programming in Texas is accomplishing its mission. These findings also support those from Heinsohn and Cantrell's study of Pennsylvania 4-H members, which found that 4-H members perceived themselves as having developed "good" levels of leadership, communication, and personal development skills.7

Documenting the value of effective youth development programs should be the first step in reducing the negative impact of diminishing budgets. The next step is interpreting the value of these programs to legislators, university administrators, and other key leaders. These groups must be made aware that 4-H activities don't simply teach youth skills in agriculture and home economics, but include nonformal, experiential educational programs that teach youth valuable life skills. Extension leaders must convince decision makers that the potential positive impact on youth justifies significant financial input into the program. Indeed, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and much less expensive.

1. The Forgotten Half: Pathways to Success for America's Youth and Young Families (Washington, D.C.: William T. Grant Commission on Work, Family, and Citizenship, 1988).

2. Karen J. Pittman, Promoting Youth Development: Strengthening the Role of Youth Serving and Community Organizations (Washington, D.C.: Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, 1991).

3. L. Hoopfer, "Mission Statement" (Unpublished paper presented at the National Committee on Utilization of 4-H Materials, Washington, D.C., 1981).

4. H. Ladewig and J. Thomas, Does 4-H Make a Difference? (College Station: Texas A&M University System, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, 1987).

5. R. I. Carter, Leadership and Personal Development Inventory (Ames: Iowa State University, 1989).

6. Reliability coefficients for the study itself were: .72, .75, .69, .65, and .83, respectively.

7. A. L. Heinsohn and M. J. Cantrell, Pennsylvania 4-H Impact Study: An Evaluation of Teens' Life Skill Development (University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 1986).