Responsibility
• Importance of positive role modeling
• Doing your best and striving for excellence
• Providing educational resources to young people
• Emphasizing the importance of animal welfare
• Teaching the importance of food safety when raising livestock
Overview
• Adults have the responsibility to be positive role models and set good examples.
• This includes:– Engaging in ethical practices– Demonstrating good sportsmanship– Providing resources young people need– Producing safe food products
Positive Role Modeling
• As young people develop, they seek role models.
• Role model – a person who serves as a model in a particular behavioral or social role for another person to emulate
• Positive role models are essentialfor youth development.
Role Modeling
• Young people find both positive and negative role models in today’s society.
• Young people often idealize sports figures, yet many athletes have been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.
• These negative role models may make it seem acceptable to use performance-enhancing drugs in livestock.
Role Modeling in Society
• As society becomes more complex, positive role models are harder to find.
• Societal influences that affect the unity of young people and adults:– Increased mobility– Distancing from relatives – Sports icons– Generational differences
• Every young person needs a positive relationship with at least one adult.
• Ideally, young people will have positive relationships with:– Church leaders – School leaders– Business leaders – Other “positive” leaders
Positive Role Models in Society
• A positive role model demonstrates character traits such as:
• Groups that serve as role models include:
What is a positive role model?
– County Extension agents – Master volunteers– Agricultural science teachers – Family members– Project committee members – Other adult volunteers
– Trustworthiness – Fairness– Respect – Caring– Responsibility – Citizenship
• It is the responsibility of adults to teach young people about showmanship both inside and outside the ring.
• Young people must understand the difference between sportsmanship and gamesmanship.
Sportsmanship – exhibiting livestock with honor
Gamesmanship – striving to win for gain and glory
Sportsmanship vs. Gamesmanship
• Examples of good showmanship– Picking up a show stick someone drops in the ring
– Teaching a younger exhibitor how to clip and fit a steer
– Opening a gate for someone who has a pig penned
– Letting another exhibitor borrow a brush
– Taking leadership of the county/chapter showmanship training to help others
– Sharing your knowledge about selecting projects with others
– Helping a younger exhibitor carry a bucket of water
Sportsmanship
• Examples of gamesmanship– Jabbing someone else’s animal in the show ring
– Being dishonest about an animal’s age when registering
– Showing an animal in the wrong breed or division
– Telling the judge that your animal weighs a different amount than the card says
– Blocking the judge’s view of another animal in the class
– Depriving your animal of the appropriate amount of feed and water to get its weight down
– Providing compensation to the judge to influence his or
her decision
Gamesmanship
• Making ethical choices involves choosing to do your best, strive for excellence, pursue victory, and display accomplishments with honor.
• It does not involve giving in to unethical practices in order to win. • Competitors expect to compete, not to forfeit to their opponents. • When times get tough, parents and adult leaders should
demonstrate the following practices:– Perseverance– Diligence– Hard work– Accountability– Self restraint– Search for improvement
Doing Your Bestand Striving for Excellence
• The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence. John F. Kennedy
• Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. Steve Jobs
• The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. Vincent T. Lombardi
Striving for Excellence
• The educational resources adults provide can help young people better appreciate and understand agriculture.
• Resources may include:– Extension publications– Extension specialists and agents– Feedback from project experts– Master volunteers– 4-H and FFA curricula– Extension trainings– 4-H and FFA camps
Providing Educational Resources for Young People
• Young people must learn personal accountability when raising livestock.
• They are accountable for the methods they use.
• Raising livestock requires commitment.– Feeding and watering daily– Safe handling of livestock– Giving only prescribed
medications and feeds– Providing a safe environment
for animals– Treating livestock that are sick
Animal Welfare
• Market livestock projects account for nearly7 million pounds of meat each year.
• Adult leaders must emphasize the importance of producing safe, high-quality meat.
• Adults should help young people understand Food Quality Assurance and learnto use Hazard AnalysisCritical Control Plans (HACCP).
Food Safety
• Established in 1979 by federal government
• Monitors the production, processing and distribution of all food products
• Eliminated overlapping, inconsistent, complex specifications for various food products
• Goal – help consumers buy foodas efficiently and economically aspossible while taking advantageof the innovations and efficienciesof the commercial marketplace
Food Quality Assurance
• Responsibilities of Food Quality Assurance Program:– Assure food quality and manage Commercial Item Descriptions
(CID)
– Coordinate CIDs with users, regulatory agencies, inspection and testing agencies, and the food industry
– Review CIDs to ensure document requirements conform to applicable laws, regulations and policies
– Approve CIDs, as appropriate, and arrange for their printing, indexing and distribution
– Maintain a complete and current inventory of CIDs
Food Quality Assurance
• Plans that identify where and how food safety problems occur and how they can be prevented
• HACCP plans should be used with 4-H/FFA livestock projects. They ensure that meat will be
safe and wholesome for the consumer.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP)
• When implementing HACCP plans:– Identify hazards– Find critical control points
for each hazard– Establish critical limits for
each control point– Monitor– Take corrective action if there
is a problem– Keep records on each critical control point– Verify that the HACCP plan is working correctly
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP)
• Importance of– Positive role modeling (sportsmanship vs.
gamesmanship)
– Doing your best and striving for excellence
– Providing young people with educational resources
– Animal welfare
– Food safety (Food Quality Assurance, HACCP)
Conclusion