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