The seats have not all been filled yet, so tangible results are currently difficult to measure. But I grew up in 4-H, been in since I was 10 years old. So if the board is about trying to get youth involved, that s where I come in. The need for organizations to form partnerships with the young people they serve was reinforced in a landmark study by the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1992. A task force conducted a two-year study that included an extensive literature review, focus group discussions with young adolescents, interviews with youth development leaders, surveys, and site visits to organizations.
Some youth organizations don t recognize adolescents autonomy in making behavioral choices.
For example, the Just Say No programs that seek to prevent substance use and adolescent sexual activity generally provide no practice in active decision making. Young people say they want to belong to a valued group of peers, in partnership with respectful, caring, committed adults. Autonomy The agendas of many youth organizations are decided by adults and the choices offered to young people are limited to those that adults determine. For 4-H s part, we should have learned our lesson from those who helped found the organization shortly after the turn of the century. The first 4-H clubs were called Boys Corn Clubs.