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Former 4-H member addresses parents role in 4-H

Dear Editor, After reading Sharon Kjenner-Bolton’s letter to the editor and as a past 4-H member I felt compelled to share my thoughts. I was a 4-H member for nine years and believe 4-H is a great experience for any child. 4-H taught me what responsibility and commitment truly mean. I learned that some years after all your hard work and effort you lose money.

Dear Editor,

After reading Sharon Kjenner-Bolton’s letter to the editor and as a past 4-H member I felt compelled to share my thoughts. I was a 4-H member for nine years and believe 4-H is a great experience for any child. 4-H taught me what responsibility and commitment truly mean. I learned that some years after all your hard work and effort you lose money. I had to buy my calf, feed, required accessories and pay my membership dues. Most years I made a small profit, but I also had a couple of years where I lost hundreds of dollars. I realize 4-H is not about the money, but it is disheartening when your calf goes through the sale ring and brings $1.10/lb and the next calf brings $2.20/lb. Did the owner of this calf do twice the work I did? Is the quality of the beef twice as good as my calf even though we bought the feed from the same supplier? I appreciate all the buyers that come out and support 4-H, but when this happens what message is being sent to the members? As a past member returning to watch the sale I feel it would be nice to see a more average price per project, as each member puts in an equal amount of effort.

When this price difference occurs I learned that “Parental Politics” were usually at the root of this injustice. The motto for 4-H is “Learn to Do by Doing”, parents are to stay on the sidelines and cheer their child on. My mom certainly lived by this motto, not once did she feed my calf, solicit buyers or put her hands on my beef project. She believed I should have the full experience of learning to do by doing. She certainly drove me to meetings, participated in the highway clean up and arranged for feed to be delivered. I now appreciate Mom’s attitude, by her “not doing” and letting me have all the responsibility of completing my project; I believe I have been much better equipped for the real world. I feel in some cases parents go to the extremes to create unrealistic results for their child, while other parents tend to let their child discover the realities of the cattle industry and life by themselves.

One last point…my siblings bought their entire 4-H feed ration from the same company as I did for the past two years. I was disappointed that this company was a “no show” at the Ponoka Show and Sale this year. But, I was also pleasantly surprised that the new store, McFeeds, bought two calves. My siblings made note of the company’s absence and guess where they will be buying their feed this fall? Jake and Nola have certainly learned the politics of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” So yes, 4-H is great, but politics are also alive and well here. Parents, if we are to learn by doing, please…leave us to do the doing!

Respectfully,

Emma Curran

Ponoka