In The News

State 4-H Conversation Creates Action Steps for a Better Future

Greater opportunities for community involvement and education on basic living skills, tolerance, youth leadership and service projects were identified as state recommendations to improve the future for Illinois youth during the Illinois Conversation on Youth Development in the 21st Century.

More than 150 youth, volunteers and staff members of community organizations met in Tinley Park to discuss issues that concern youth and to develop recommendations. The state conversation was the second phase of a national 4-H effort to take the suggestions from county-level conversations to the state level.

Delegates at the Dec. 8 event were selected from 60 to 70 county conversations held in October, according to Chris Anderson, University of Illinois Extension 4-H youth development educator and chair of the state event. Their ideas will be forwarded on to the national level in February and combined with other states to create a national report that will be presented to President Bush and Congress.

" The 39 action steps that originated in Illinois communities will become part of a national effort that will impact programs and policies that bring the results back to the local level where the project began," Anderson said.

The State Conversation focused on 14 issues, including life skills education, jobs/careers, youth centers/activities, schools, youth leadership and mentoring, among others. Delegates recommended establishing a research-based youth center prototype and a statewide youth council and developing a clearinghouse of youth information under the youth centers/activities category.

Other suggestions included transforming schools into youth centers of community activity, developing coalitions of youth organizations with youth representation and developing an urban/rural exchange program.

The delegates were encouraged to take the 39 recommendations to their communities and to implement those that address local needs.

"The effort doesn't end here today," Anderson said. "We should work collectively to keep these issues and recommendations at the forefront on the agendas of youth development organizations across the state. Just imagine the synergy that could be built if these recommendations are implemented through organizations at the state and local levels."

The Illinois Conversation on Youth Development in the 21st Century event was part of the 4-H Centennial celebration in 2002. 4-H is the largest out-of-school educational program for youth in the United States and seeks to assist youth in acquiring knowledge, developing life skills, and forming attitudes that will enable them to become self-directed, productive, and contributing members of society. In Illinois, 371,500 children participate in 4-H and the youth programs of U of I Extension. Also, 25,000 adult volunteers assist in this programming.

"We wanted to celebrate the wonderful impact that 4-H Youth Development has had over the past 100 years by focusing on the future needs of youth in Illinois," said Janice Seitz, Assistant Dean and Director for University of Illinois Extension 4-H Youth Development.