Parent Ethics: A Program to Address Poor Ethical Choices by 4-H ParentsErin Post, Colorado State University – Extension Adams County, Extension Agent

AbstractAre the youth in your program making poor ethical choices when it comes to livestock shows? Are the barns at your fair a volatile place or not welcoming and fostering of a positive youth development environment? If so, I would encourage you to look into this program that was developed to address those specific things. In order to help foster the development of ethics of our youth, we have to begin with their parents, leaders and mentors. The Parent Ethics program was developed in direct response to poor parental behavior and terrible residue testing results in market livestock exhibited at the County Fair. Over the course of the program’s three years in existence, we have seen an increase in the inclusiveness in the livestock barns and 4-H program as a whole, as well as a sharp decline in the recurrence of residue issues in market livestock. The parent ethics program addresses Junior Livestock Show ethics from a multi-pronged approach to help make lasting improvements to the program. This program has helped us move in the direction of positive choices when families are faced with ethical dilemmas. It is the hope that sharing this information will help Agents and programs facing similar issues.

Target AudienceIn 2011, it became apparent there was extreme volatility in the swine barn during the Adams County Fair. There were rampant rumors and continuing accusations of rule breaking and unethical things happening during the show. These resulted in 4-H members choosing to no longer participate in the project and also created a hostile situation at a separate judging event among parents and adults. It was at this time it became obvious that something needed to be done. The representatives of our County program had created an undue volatile environment at the State level. It was clear that adults and parents involved in the situation were the catalyst for the events, not the youth. Thus, the Adams County ethics training program is geared primarily toward 4-H parents and not youth. More specifically, it is geared toward parents of youth who are producing livestock that can potentially end up in the food chain. We also knew that change could be created by our youth, it is the very reason that 4-H was started so long ago. In a parallel effort the leadership team was developed to help lower the incidence of negative situations for our youth at the County Fair.

Why Teach Parent Ethics?As 4-H youth development agents, we continually hold our youth members to a high standard of ethics. They must adhere to the 4-H Code of Conduct and also take Meat (Livestock) Quality Assurance Training before exhibiting their animals at exhibitions. Why are there not the same requirements of parents? They typically are the ones who seek guidance from other adults, they make health/care decisions for members having to do with their project animals and they can be financially driven for their son/daughter to do well in an exhibition. Having been on the opposite side of the table from a youth who had their project animal’s carcass condemned due to a residue, it is difficult to believe they were the one who administered an illegal residue to their animal.

Something we can all agree on is that 4-H is not an easy program there are for new families to understand. It is different, in a good way, from other youth organizations. Because of this wonderfully different program, there are some unique things we must think about as we help to shape the lives of our youth. As agents, we do our best to answer as many questions as we can for your new member and families; we give science based information to help them succeed. What we found was that many of our families were becoming reliant on individuals who had financial stake in the animals members were exhibiting. Because of this conflict of interest, parents and members were taking potentially detrimental advice from some of these people. Because it was advice from trusted individuals, parents/leaders did not think about the ethical dilemma they could potentially face if they did some of the things suggested to them.

It was determined there would be a class offered (required for some) to help educate parents of 4-H members exhibiting market livestock. This class would have guest presenters: the State 4-H Director, the Adams County Fair Veterinarian and Residue Testing Manager, and representatives from the Colorado State Veterinarians Office. They would help explain the ethical problems youth livestock shows face, from the Quality Assurance as well as Youth Development perspective. In addition to the class requirement for adults, 4-H youth were enlisted to begin the first ever 4-H Leadership Team. This was a group of 4-H youth selected by the 4-H staff to help assess the problems occurring during the County Fair and to also come up with a plan to solve these problems. The 4-H Leadership Team created an Ice Cream Social to help create a sense of inclusiveness among exhibitors in all project areas as the County Fair began. They chose to have the events prior to the shows at the County Fair and invited all 4-H members to attend, no matter their exhibition area. They also decided that parents would not be allowed in this event; they felt very strongly that the adults sometimes brought a sense of tension to the environment and they wanted it to be only about the kids.

Program DevelopmentAs the Parent Ethics pilot program began, details were as follows:

The class was required of at least one parent of youth who planned to exhibit at the Colorado State Fair.Two classes would be offered.Classes coincided with the Youth Meat Quality Assurance Trainings.If a parent of a youth did not attend, the 4-H Associate would not sign their entries for the State Fair.

In 2012, there was a total attendance of 97 adults to the two classes offered. Only one youth was denied entry to the State Fair, because of this new requirement. In the first year, it was obvious we had made an impact on parents when we continued to get phone calls from parents who wanted to make sure they were following all of the rules and remaining ethical. When calls came in, we were able to assess the situation and help the family reach an ethical decision about how and what they were able to do for their animals.

For the inaugural year of the Leadership Team and 4-H Ice Cream Social, details are as follows: Ten senior age 4-H youth led the Leadership Team Create the ‘Ice Cream Social’ Served ice cream to 200 4-H Youth Created an inclusive environment by meeting youth from all project areas and helping to make themselves visible during fair so that any exhibitors felt comfortable asking them questions.

FindingsFollowing the inaugural year for both the Parent Ethics program and the Leadership Team, the programs were expanded. In 2013, new leadership team members were selected and the Ice Cream Social helped to foster a more inclusive environment at the County Fair, which was their main goal. This foundation still stands today; youth in the program understand that our county values all projects equally. The Leadership Team has morphed into the 4-H Junior Livestock Committee and as they make decisions about programming, they are inclusive in those decisions.

The Parent Ethics program has expanded most significantly and has had a direct impact on the ethical choices being made by 4-H families in the livestock program. In 2013, ethics class offerings expanded from two, to include more than seven options for parents to attend. In addition to the number of classes being expanded, the program took a more significant shape. Different levels were added to the program: Gold and Platinum. These levels were attained when parents (and youth) attended a specific number of classes. Gold was for attending 1-3 classes and platinum for 4+ classes. To incentivize the programs, youth were given stall placards to hang above their stalls at the County Fair in addition to having their ‘level’ marked in the Junior Livestock Auction Sale catalog. It was a way to show that not only were youth taking quality assurance training, but the parents were as well. Since 2012, 127 families have attended 421 ethics trainings. Currently, families can retain their ‘level’ for three years, at which time they will need to take additional classes. An unexpected result from these trainings, that I believe is a direct result, is that in years 2013, 2014 and 2015, there were no residues found in the animals at the Adams County Fair. This is an extremely important thing to note. Prior to the ethics trainings beginning, positive tests were seen annually.

Classes and Topics OfferedSeminar presented by State 4-H Director, Fair/Residue Testing Veterinarian, State Veterinarians Office Staff.Cowboy Ethics Training – Available via grant to Colorado 4-HVideos: Meat Quality Assurance, a Line in the Sand, a Question of Ethics – Jeff Goodwin Bio-Security Presentation; Colorado State Veterinarians Office Livestock Show Ethics – Industry PerspectiveLivestock Show Ethics – Youth Development Perspective

Next StepsIn Adams County, we plan to continue with the Parent Ethics program. As it becomes part of what families plan to do annually, we have noticed leaders and clubs work to include trainings in their schedules and also offer to ‘rent’ the videos and play them for parents during meetings.

The 2012 Adams County Leadership Team following the conclusion of the Ice Cream Social