Virginia 4-H offers a wide variety of opportunities beyond the local level that enable teens to develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and aspirations needed for success. However, before we involve teens in opportunities such as State 4-H Cabinet, State 4-H Congress, Virginia 4-H All Stars, Citizenship Washington Focus, National 4-H Congress, and National 4-H Conference, we — as 4-H professionals — must be sure the teens are adequately prepared for such ventures. This fact sheet provides tips on how to prepare your teens for district, state, national, and international 4-H opportunities.

Often, society hears negative reports related to teens — for example, 51 percent cheated on a test in the last year (Josephson Institute of Ethics 2012) — and the lack of positive opportunities provided for teens contributes to these statistics. Research shows that when teens are engaged in long-term, positive opportunities with caring adults, they are more likely to be academically productive in high school and to graduate (Lerner et al. 2011). 4-H Youth Development provides the longitudinal opportunities and caring adults who promote positive outcomes for teens. However, the recruitment and retention of teen 4-H members is often difficult because of family and community factors. While these factors may inhibit positive teen opportunities, there are other factors that can help overcome the barriers.