When 4-H began, almost 100 years ago, children were
focused on
helping
on the family farm, learning homemaking skills and
trying to get to
school. The 4-H Club was established to help rural
youth learn by
doing.

Who
had the very first 4-H Club is hotly debated.

Georgia claims the first club was the Boys Corn
Club established
in Covington, Ga., in 1904. A girls canning club
quickly followed
in Hancock County. However, Springfield, Ohio, has
the earliest
claim in 1902.

In 1914, when Congress established the
Cooperative Extension Service,
4-H Clubs were made a part of the organization and
have been administered
through the land-grant institutions in each state
ever since.

“We are recognizing the Centennial of the 4-H
Club in 2002,” said
Susan Stewart, director of the National 4-H
Congress. “The National
4-H Congress will be held in Atlanta over
Thanksgiving weekend through
the Centennial celebration.”

Changing Face of 4-H

Regardless of when
the club actually began, be
assured the 4-H
Club of the next millennium isn’t your
grandparents’ 4-H Club.

“It’s not just agriculture any more,” said John
Williams, a 4-H’er
from Doughtery County, and a member of the 1999
National 4-H Congress
leadership committee. “It’s a whole new
experience.”

As the world changed over the last century, so
did 4-H. When man
was headed to the moon, 4-H introduced new
programs and projects
like rocketry, electronics and frozen foods.

“4-H has always been evolving,” said Bo Ryles,
Georgia’s state
4-H program leader. “That’s how we have remained
relevant to the
lives of children in this state and across the
county.”

New 4-H
Focus

Today’s 4-H’ers focus on leadership, community
service and technology.
While still grounded in its rural roots, 4-H has
grown to meet the
needs of all of America’s youth – rural, urban and
suburban alike.

“Character education is a big issue for us in
the coming years,”
Ryles said. “Ethical issues are a major concern
for young people
today, as well as their parents.”

According to Public School Teachers in the U.S.,
the greatest
issues facing youth during the 1940s were: talking
out of turn,
chewing gum, running in the halls, making noise,
dress code infractions,
littering and cutting in line. That list today
includes: alcohol
abuse, drug abuse, pregnancy, rape suicide,
robbery and assault.

A national survey of youth ethics conducted by
the National 4-H
Congress this summer showed that the four major
concerns of America’s
young people are peer pressure, lack of parental
involvement, substance
abuse and sexual activity.

“In Georgia 4-H, we will also be focusing on
urban agricultural
issues, and will continue emphasis on
environmental education,”
Ryles said.

A recent survey from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture shows
that of the more than 6.5 million 4-H Club members
nationwide, most
are enrolled in projects that are centered on
plants and animals,
healthy lifestyle education, science and
technology or communication
and expressive arts.

Georgia has more than 138,000 4-H members
enrolled in clubs. More
of Georgia’s 4-H’ers live in central cities than
live on farms.
The largest number of 4-H’ers, 41.3 percent, live
in rural, non-farm
areas. Thirty-two percent live in small towns and
cities of 10,000
to 50,000.