ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200044
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LU STAFF WRITER
When 5 percent of American students carry a handgun and gun homicide is the leading killer of young adults between 16 and 19, action needs to be taken, said Jason Pettie at the 4-H Town Meeting on Wednesday at Virginia Tech.
About 450 teen-agers representing the top 4-H groups in Virginia sat in silence when Pettie, a 4-H member, voiced the focus of this year's state 4-H Congress: the problems of teen-age crime and use of drugs and alcohol.
"I've learned stuff here that I never really knew before," said Erin Wilcke, a rising sophomore at Blacksburg High School. "And it sticks more when someone your own age [Pettie] talks to you about it."
4-H stands for Head, Heart, Hands and Health and its motto is "Make the Best Better." 4-H work is guided by Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Because the extension service works with state land-grant universities like Virginia Tech, the state 4-H Congress is held there every year, said Mary Ann Johnson, the university's extension communications specialist. The most active 4-H groups in Virginia are invited to the four-day Congress. Today is the last day of their visit.
"Our main role is to help improve people's lives," Johnson said. "We want to connect the citizens with any research information that would help them."
4-H began in the early 1900s as an organization for farm children, who worked on projects such as canning and raising livestock, poultry and crops. City children began joining 4-H after clubs added projects such as automobile care, safety and career studies.
"What impressed me most about the 4-H group is that it is willing to work on crime prevention programs and make a difference out there," Jerry Kilgore, Virginia's secretary of Public Safety, said at the meeting. "We must teach teen-agers who think themselves immune from violence that this is not the case. Society must have zero tolerance for crime."
After the speeches, the members broke up into smaller groups to discuss certain aspects of crime and violence and possible ways to prevent them. Topics included drugs, media influence and parental involvement.
Jesse Brown, a 17-year-old home-schooled student from King George County, believes that the problem with violence is that the things people decry are often accepted by society. Images on television that were shocking a few generations ago are no longer so because they have become the norm.
"Because we're brought up and taught to do whatever we feel like, we don't have any reason to act otherwise or be more dignified," he said. "I think humanity has to realize that it's special, and that we're more than just animals."
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