Parental Perceptions of Participation in 4-H Beef , Sheep and Swine Livestock Projects and the Fostering of Life Skill Development in Youth

Beef, sheep and swine 4-H youth livestock projects have a great deal of hands-on learning opportunities for members. However, what are parents’ perceptions about livestock projects and the development of life skills? The purpose of this research effort was to determine the life skill development gained by 4-H members participating in 4-H beef, sheep or swine projects in West Virginia. A total of 207 caregivers offered insight into the study and answered life skill development questions. These questions were related to decision making, relating to others, developing and maintaining records, accepting responsibility, building positive self esteem, self motivation, knowledge of the livestock industry, developing organizational skills, problem solving, developing oral communication skills, setting goals, developing self-discipline, and working in teams. The findings of this study provide positive insights into the relationship between the development of valuable life skills and 4-H beef, sheep and swine projects.


Introduction
4-H, the largest informal youth organization in the world, promotes hands on learning opportunities for its members that instill life skills.4-H also recognizes and rewards members for their hard work and perseverance.However, it is important to look past ribbons, trophies, trips, and monetary gains and examine the life skills that are being developed as a direct result of participation in livestock projects.The 4-H youth livestock projects prove to have a great deal of hands-on learning opportunities for members.However, what are parents' perceptions about livestock projects and the development of life skills?Do parents feel that 4-H beef, sheep or swine projects are directly linked to their child's development?
According to Boleman, Briers, and Cummings (2004), the parents of youth participating in the 4-H beef project did suggest that life skills are being enhanced.They also indicated that there is indeed a low to moderate positive relationship between years of participation and life skill development.According to Boyd, Herring, and Briers (1992), the development of life skills through experiential learning is the cornerstone of the 4-H program.The literature proves that many studies have been executed finding that youth do gain life skills through 4-H livestock projects.Building responsibility, relating to others, spirit of inquiry, decision making, public speaking, maintaining records, and building self esteem are the seven life skills that Ward's (1996) study of 4-H alumni revealed as the skills built through 4-H participation.

Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this research effort was to determine the life skill development gained by 4-H members participating in 4-H beef, sheep, or swine projects in West Virginia.This was measured by asking parents/caregivers to address the life skill development of the child.
The objectives were: 1. Determine the life skills gleaned by youth participation in 4-H livestock projects as addressed by their parents/caregivers.
2. Measure the relationship between individual life skills and years of youth participation in 4-H livestock projects as addressed by their parents/caregivers.Boleman et al. (2004) and Gall et al. (1996), face and content validity were assessed by these 8 individuals.

Methods and Procedures
Parents/caregivers were asked to offer their perceptions of the level of life skill development as a result of their child raising a 4-H livestock project.The scale was slightly modified from the Boleman et al. (2004) instrument and was defined as Not influential at all, Mildly influential, Moderately influential, Highly influential, and Essential.The years of youth participation and demographic information followed in the second instrument section.
Eleven junior 4-H leaders from Jefferson County were utilized to pilot the research tool and assess for research face validity.Three noted there was confusing wording in the demographic section.Additionally, the eleven junior 4-H leaders were asked to complete the instrument and return it to the investigator with only the provided instructions.Reliability, or internal consistency, of the life skill development scale was estimated from these data.

Data Analysis
Demographics: The respondents were asked to provide how many years their child had been exhibiting livestock projects; the age and gender of their child; the number of livestock shows in which their child exhibited from January 2006 -August 2006; the number of hours their child had spent working with their livestock project(s) per week from January 2006 -August 2006; and the number of years their child had been in the 4-H program.
Of the 207 parents that responded, two did not provide the number of years their child had been exhibiting livestock projects; six did not provide the number of shows in which their child had exhibited from January 2006 -August 2006; two parents did not provide the number of hours their child worked with their livestock project(s); and three did not provide the number of years their child had been involved with the 4-H program.
Two hundred and five parents (99.0%) reported that their children have been exhibiting for an average of 4.74 years with a range from 1 to 16 years.The mean age of the children was 13.75, a range from 6 to 24 years old.Ninety-three (44.9%) male children and 114 (55.1%) female children's parents responded to the questionnaire.In further examination of the chart above, one observes that impact is significant in the ► development of life skills when assuming a 4-H livestock project.As indicated in the chart, all life skill categories are consistently.
Parents rated their child's 4-H livestock experience on a 5 point scale as follows: 1=Not influential at all, 2=Mildly influential, *3=Moderately influential, *4=Highly influential, *5=Essential One observes that impact proves to ► be very high in all categories in life skill development.These categories are consistent and high due to increased activities encompassed when assuming a 4-H livestock project.
Accepting responsibility, with 91.3%, proves to be very high.Raising a ► 4-H livestock project increases the level of daily work.Daily activities consume a large amount of time and can include walking the animal and maintaining a feeding program.
Develop oral communication skills proves to be the lowest life skill develope ► d, but is still significant at 58.3%.This could be low because 4-H members do not practice oral skills in the livestock fair arena.An oral project demonstration takes place in the 4-H club setting.Senior 4-H members further develop communication skills by giving oral reasons during livestock judging events.

Correlation of Life Skills and Demographics:
Objective 2: Correlation was calculated utilizing a grand mean of the life skills and the individual demographics.Pearson's correlation is used to find the correlation between at least two continuous variables.Correlation was calculated for the grand mean of life skills and the individual demographics.The value for a Pearson's can fall between 0.00 (no correlation) and 1.00 (perfect correlation).Other factors such as group size will determine if the correlation is significant.The highest ranking life skill, Accepting Responsibility, did not significantly correlate with any ► of the demographics.The lowest ranking life skill, Develop Oral Communication Skills, did have a significant correlation with years of 4-H membership and years of exhibiting livestock animals.
The following tables show the significant correlation relationship between the individual life ► skills and the demographics.The relationship between hours spent working with the livestock project ► and self motivation is as follows: as self motivation increases, less time is spent working with livestock project.

Conclusion
Parents participating in this research endeavor noted that life skills are being positively enhanced by participation in the 4-H beef, sheep or swine project.The demographics and life skills correlation maintains the findings of Boleman, Briers, and Cummings (2004) Parents rated their child's livestock experience on a 5 point scale as follows: 1=Not influential at all, 2=Mildly influential, *3=Moderately influential, *4=Highly influential, *5=EssentialN= 207 An average of 9-12 hours was stated to have been spent working with youth livestock projects per week from January 2006 -August 2006.The mean 4-H membership year was 5.30 (11.3%), with a range from 2 to 16 years.
that the longer children actively engage in the 4-H beef, sheep or swine project, the more likely they are developing positive life skills.Because of this life skill development, 4-H is playing a major role in the cultivation of productive and contributing members of society.It is commonly stated that 4-H programming increases life skill development in our youth; however, most 4-H professionals cannot state the exact life skills honed through various 4-H activities.This study strived to investigate the life skills that livestock programming, specifically beef, sheep and swine 4-H projects, cultivate in youth.According to the parents that participated in the study, the life skills that revealed significantly high correlation included: Accepting Responsibility, Building Positive Self Esteem, Self Motivation, Setting Goals, and Developing Organizational Skills.These results proved to be powerful and significant to our youth development work.As agents of positive change, it is our responsibility to focus on the development of life skills and what 4-H projects, programs, etc., foster their development.While this research was designed for a target group of individuals, we know that positive youth development is occurring through involvement in beef, sheep and swine 4-H projects.Because the development of these life skills among members is the ultimate goals, we must further examine other 4-H projects and strive to determine if life skill development is occurring.