Auburn, June 21---Two recent university studies confirm what 4-H professionals and volunteers have known all along: kids who participate in 4-H and similar out-of-school programs tend to be better off than those who don’t.

"As a someone who has worked a long time with 4-H, I know from firsthand experience the difference 4-H and similar activities can make in a child’s life," says Dr. Beth Atkins, who serves as the assistant to the director for development for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. "It’s gratifying to know our convictions are now confirmed with the release of these two studies."

While long-term involvement in any organized out-of-school programs seemed to have a positive effect on the development of these assets, 4-H involvement appeared to outpace all other programs in the effect it had on helping children develop these skills.

The studies, conducted by Cornell and Montana State universities, reveal long-term youth involvement in 4-H and similar organized out-of-school activities often play a major role helping children develop the 30 or more developmental assets considered essential for lifetime success. These developmental assets encompass leadership, conflict resolution, educational aspiration, a desire to help others, communication (especially with adults), self-confidence and the ability to make healthy choices in life.

The Cornell University study, for example, revealed that young people who remained in 4-H and similar clubs for one year or more were also more likely to receive better school grades than the ones who did not. Kid’s with long-term youth-program involvement also appeared to spend between three and 10 hours per week doing homework, while those with club membership of one year or less spent only between one and five hours weekly on homework.

In terms of moral clarification and moral development, youth with the youth-program involvement also were about 20 percent more likely to report it was against their values to have sex as a teenager.

The Cornell study revealed long-term youth-program involvement also tended to be more involved in community projects.

"Generally speaking, the study revealed children with the highest involvement in 4-H and related activities tended to have the highest educational aspirations, a stronger sense of obligation to serve their community, higher levels of interaction with adults and a greater ability to make friends," Atkins says.

Kids with long-term youth-program experience also appeared to be at a lower risk of delinquent behavior compared with youngsters who were uninvolved or, at best, marginally involved in such programs.

For example, the Montana State University study revealed kids involved in 4-H and similar out-of-school activities were less prone to engage in delinquent behavior such as drinking, stealing, damaging property merely for the fun of it and using drugs.

On the other hand, kids with the least involvement in out-of-school activities tended to be the most inclined toward delinquent behavior. In fact, the Montana study reveals that kids least involved in out-of-school activities tended to be twice more likely to drink and shoplift, three times more likely to have used drugs, and seven times more likely to have carried a gun to school.

Based on her own experience as a 4-H professional, Atkins believes the close involvement of adult professionals and volunteers in 4-H-sponsored youth programs and similar activities has played a large part in this formative role.

"Children desperately need role models," Atkins says. "As virtually every child development expert would attest, children who have significant role models in life are far more likely to stay out of trouble and succeed in life."

"While volunteers are no substitute for active parents, they often can play a major and highly constructive role in the lives of children whose parents, for whatever reason, are not engaged in their children’s lives."

Atkins believes another vital ingredient behind this success is the holistic approach 4-H and similar programs take toward learning.

"In 4-H, all activities, regardless of the subject matter, have a leadership, citizenship and community service component built into them," she says. "In other words, once children have learned these new skills, they’re also expected to impart them to others, thereby making their communities better places to live."

This, Atkins believes, instills kids with a stronger desire to serve others – one of the developmental assets considered crucial for success in life.