On the social level, we want these youth to develop life skills in the areas of empathy, sharing, concern for others, accepting differences, and cooperation. Therefore, a 4-H shooting sports program offers a lot of positive opportunities. The advantage, no matter which of the six sports are offered, is that project goals do not focus solely on developing marksmanship skills. Shooting sports programs also bring out messages of personal pride that come with mastery, personal discipline, responsibility and sportmanship. These skills and messages are life builders.
Youth learn the strategies of working with others in a disciplined environment.
They learn about competition with themselves and others. They learn that they can become someone else's resource. They learn to choose involvement levels in self- determined activities. They learn that being cool doesn't require senseless actions that put themselves and others in danger. They learn through commitment and interest that they can become part of a much bigger family of shooting sports enthusiasts and have the opportunity to carry on positive activities in life.