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As
I write this, what a beautiful fall we have going in November, the month
of Thanksgiving. This article comes to you the first of December and I
know all of you are busy heading into the biggest holiday of the year,
Christmas. What a great day to celebrate and spend time with family; I
hope you have lots of fun and memories started during this time! And get
some rest, you are about to start 2008. Make it Great!
Two
different pieces are in this month’s letter – make sure you read
both. As we start a new year, I hope it makes you think about educating
the youth of Alabama!
Internet
Usage
Many
of today’s teens spend hours upon hours sitting on their "front
porch" chatting with their friends. They chat about school
assignments; they talk about church or sports activities; they flirt and
ask the eternal question "Who likes who?" But unlike past
generations, today’s "front porch" is an electronic location
where kids gather and talk, share music and photographs, and develop
their friendships and romantic relationships.
Some
parents and educators are fearful of the new electronic landscape, and
clearly there are risks involved. However, we need to accept that text
messaging, Facebook, MySpace and instant messaging are here to stay -
and over the next decade we can only guess what new and innovative
methods young people will find to communicate with one another.
There
is nothing inherently good or bad about these communications methods.
Certainly, there are abuses, given the opportunities people have for
anonymity. And like any other social setting, there can be bullies and
victims, snubs and hurt feelings, and harmful gossip. There can be some
tough lessons kids learn about trust, communications and groups.
It
is important for parents to stay informed, both about the new technology
and how our kids are using it. Take some time to look at MySpace,
Facebook and YouTube. Find out what a blog is and see how churches, 4-H
clubs and youth groups are using these sites to keep kids connected. For
example, you can learn a lot about your community by doing a web search
using such terms as "MySpace" and "Clanton" and
"Alabama."
Ask
your child to show you his or her social web sites. That shouldn’t be
too much to require, especially if you are providing the computer and
the Internet connection. Perhaps ask them to show you how to set up a
FaceBook or MySpace page or, if you have lots of digital photographs you
want to share with family and friends, ask them to help you set up a
Flickr or Webshots gallery. Encourage them to teach you how to do things
with the computer.
Naturally,
there are important things every parent should do for Internet safety.
The most important of these is to have the family computer in a public
setting where you can always glance over the child’s shoulder. Every
parent also needs to learn about safe family computing. There are many
useful websites where you can obtain this information, such as
www.microsoft.com/protect/family.
The
most important thing a parent should do, whether their kids use the
computer or not, is to try to maintain open lines of communications. And
if you want to be technologically sophisticated, be sure to text your
child an occasional message that you love them - and be sure to tell
them in person and with a hug. They will not always be small.
The
following is a partial reprint of the Knightro Report from The Midwest
Farm and Livestock Directory at
http://www.farmandlivestockdirectory.com/columns.html by Ken
Knight. Also, read his story about County Fairs - The Role of 4-H.
County
Fairs –
The Litmus Test
The
Fair is a wonderful place to educate and showcase the pride of our
efforts. But all too often the message is missed.
County
fairs have served as a showcase for agriculture for many years. But,
more importantly, they have been a window of opportunity for a real
educational experience. The 4-H kids especially could gain a great deal
of knowledge and experience, unlike those from other events that take
place in their formative years.
I
especially enjoy working with the 4-H youth, as this impacted my life in
such a powerful way, back when I was a youngster growing up on a farm in
Western North Dakota. My involvement in 4-H truly became my focus in
life; so much so, I can really feel the emotions of these kids and
relate to most every situation they face. This is always driven home and
reinforced when I speak to 4-H and FFA livestock groups. They not only
remind me of how far we have missed the "mark" in terms of
defining the objective of raising livestock, but there is a real need
for judges who can teach and relate to youngsters in a very meaningful
manner. A child should not leave the show ring with only the options of
either joy or disappointment. They need to leave with a sense of
accomplishment and pride, a learning experience, and the enjoyment of
the "highs" of a new found level of self-worth and confidence.
The
walk to the show ring and the "parade of champions" is for the
intended purpose of showcasing what it takes to produce red meat.
However, we fail if we do not challenge the outcome on the rail.
What
has to be done to fix it? First, we acknowledge there are differences-
differences brought about by selection and feeding. An explanation of
good, sound feeding practices and a demonstration of selection factors
would be good for starters. You then begin to group the entries in
accordance to the explanation and demonstration you have just given.
In
reality, you have just conducted a mini evaluation clinic, so the kids
know and understand what is happening. Your job as a judge is to educate
these youngsters- not simply stand out there in the middle of the ring,
as though you were a god who could see right through these animals. You
have a pretty good idea what is under the hide or else you wouldn’t be
judging. But, it’s not a science, and there’s no real proof until
the carcass is hanging on the rail and the cutability and quality are
evaluated.
Thank
you, Ken, for the use of this article and to those of you reading,
please go to the website, and read it in its entirety. I agree the kids
should always have a positive experience and they are WINNERS for just
going in the ring. I think we as adults are the ones who make it a win
or lose situation. So, make sure you are a POSITIVE role model and
always be positive at these competitions. Remember, like I always tell
my kids, it is one person’s opinion on a given day. No more or no
less! |
