Mississippi State Extension 4-H Specialists, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford discuss Mississippi State 4-H's S.A.F.E.T.Y. program.
Transcript:
Announcer: This is 4-H4U2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development here. Now your host, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.
John Long: All right Cobie, well the long awaited day that I've been excited about for ever since we did our actual first podcasts, which was, I don't know how long ago was that?
Cobie Rutherford: Gosh, I guess it's been about three or four weeks.
John Long: Yeah, three or four, almost a month I guess. And in that podcast we talked a little bit about ourselves, but today we're going to be talking about two different topics I guess, and its relation to a 4-H. So what are we actually going to be talking about today?
Cobie Rutherford: Well I think the first topic that we should discuss would be your programs and what you do with the state for each office, and that's with the S.A.F.E.T.Y. program. And then I think in the next podcast we could probably visit some of the things that I'm doing with the state 4-H Congress, and the other staff members.
John Long: I think that's good because both of them are either have been going and are going to continue on and and or coming up. So we've got a lot to cover for sure. And this is actually going to be in two separate podcasts, so we're pretty excited about it.
Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. With all the stuff going on in our office, it seems like we're all scrambling working on a lot of different things at once, and if we don't stay up on these things, they'll fall by the wayside pretty fast. We'll get behind. So I guess when I grew up in 4-H, S.A.F.E.T.Y. programs were around but they weren't as popular as they are now. John, describe the S.A.F.E.T.Y. program to our audience and what it really entails here at MSU.
John Long: I have to do it a little sidebar when you said that about 4-H. I can't remember which one of my children asked me, he says, you know, did you participate in S.A.F.E.T.Y., which was formally known as shooting sports, as a child? And I said, no. I said I knew about 4-H but I said I knew absolutely nothing about the S.A.F.E.T.Y. program or otherwise I would have been in it, because I was actually doing all those things that our young people are doing in it today. It was a lot of fun for them. So S.A.F.E.T.Y. is basically what it was before, it was a shooting sports, it was known as shooting sports. And then prior to that it was known as field and stream. So now we've made a name change again. And S.A.F.E.T.Y. is an acronym that stands for safe archery and firearms education and training for youth.
Cobie Rutherford: So it sounds like to me that encompasses a whole lot more than just what the shooting sports and field and stream did.
John Long: Yeah, for sure. And I think that what it's done has really made it even more marketable. Because instead of just saying 4-H shootings sports, and you might have some people scratching their heads because they don't really know what shooting sports encompasses, and we're just so much more than just shooting. It might be something, if you heard shooting sports, you may think, well shotgun, that's all they do or whatever. But it really is to expound on exactly the whole program itself. And we want to emphasize the fact that we're educating youth too, because it's all about youth development, teaching life skills.
Cobie Rutherford: So this name change came across from a number of different reasons and it wasn't just to be more PC in today's climate. It really, S.A.F.E.T.Y. describes the program very well.
John Long: That's exactly right. And first and foremost is what we teach is safety. And I've always said, and anybody listening to this that's ever been to a volunteer training or a volunteer certification or instructor certification that's to say, I always make this comment. I said if we save one person's life from what we taught in the program, then everything else is worth it because we put that much emphasis on safety when we teach young people,
Cobie Rutherford: No doubt. So what all contest are within this program under the S.A.F.E.T.Y. umbrella? What other disciplines? I know you mentioned shotgun, rifle ...
John Long: Right. And let me clarify. When we talk about a discipline, that's the actually the activity like you said. So it's shotgun, muzzle loader, air pistol, air rifle, .22 rifle, .22 pistol. That's the hunting, we actually have hunting. And I'm trying to ... Archery, we do compound and recurve. And a lot of those disciplines have, and I'm sorry if I forgot something, don't want my level two instructors call me and say, well you forgot this discipline. But I think I got all of them.
John Long: But anyway, a lot of those disciplines have sub categories just based on equipment. I won't bore you with that because you really needed to get into the details of that. You need to get the actual event handbook and see exactly, the rule books and see exactly what I'm talking about.
Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, I think all those things sound so interesting to me. When I grew up in 4-H, I don't know that our County had a shooting sports program. But I had a Hunter safety education class within my ag class. And I remember how terrible I was at shooting any type of firearm. And one day our teacher gave us a big poster board of a Turkey and said blast it with a shotgun. I don't think I hit the poster. I don't know how far it was away, but I aimed that gun and I don't know where those bullets went.
John Long: I've had that same thing happen on real turkeys.
Cobie Rutherford: Really?
John Long: Yeah. And it's not a good feeling walking out of the woods empty handed for sure. So at least the paper ones don't move on you, so I can't make an excuse for you.
Cobie Rutherford: I can't either. But it was a pretty sad moment in educational career that stuck with me. And as the saying goes, you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
John Long: Barn, yeah. Yeah, and I understand that for sure.
Cobie Rutherford: Really came to life with me. So I've seen a lot of pictures and videos of the shooting sport events and it seems like it is first and foremost a lot of fun for those kids and families. But what are they getting out of that? Why is it important to teach them about this skill and what kind of youth development skills do you think they're getting?
John Long: Well, two weeks ago I was privileged to go to the Northeast district match, and I will say this, there were over 500 young people at that event and all shooting, and they had zero incidences of mishaps. And I think a lot of that, if not all of it, is due to the diligence and then the emphasis that we put on safety. A lot of times when you hear about young people and firearms, it's bad thing. But that was just a really, you think about getting 500 young people together to have a contest and to have that event pull off as it did, it is an amazing thing.
John Long: What they're learning in this program as I said, of course you know this, 4-H is about youth development, and it's teaching life skills. And those skills that those young people are going to learn they're going to take with them for the rest of their life. So what we want to do is just get them into the program and that program, each program in 4-H has a certain hook to it. It could be horse, it could be livestock, shooting sports. And it's to appeal to a wide audience, and that's why we do that, is to get them involved in something that they enjoy so we can get them into the educational process that 4-H has.
Cobie Rutherford: And I think this is one of those unique programs in 4-H that is appealing to both a rural and an urban audience, that they can go to their County shooting range and participate in it without having to own land or having to own livestock, or ... It's just opened up to everyone it seems like. Are there any age restrictions on any of those specifics?
John Long: Yep. You have to be at least eight years old by January the first in order to participate. And then you you can't have passed your 18th birthday as of January one in order to remain a senior level participant. So yes, there are age restrictions for that. And for that matter, when we go back to talking about the disciplines, we have a progressional phase of starting out a young person on an air gun, and then moving them up to where they get to 10 years old and they can start doing more disciplines other than just air. And then we have a certain restriction on ..22 pistol where you have to be 14 before you can even do that one. So it is a progressional thing. I look at it like a funnel, you just start out up here and try to get them down to where they're more specified in a discipline, if that makes any sense.
Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. That does. You just keep progressing and moving on up the chain. About the kids, I think about in my own home and think about, I'm leery of having a firearm in my home at times, or if I do, I want it locked up away from where my children can access it. But I think back to this training all these kids are receiving about how to know what to do with that firearm, how to respect that gun. Don't you think that's a pretty important that we as well?
John Long: Yeah. And as I said, I was not in 4-H S.A.F.E.T.Y. when I was young. I was fortunate, I had my dad and my uncle are very avid outdoorsmen, and they taught me the value of respecting a firearm. And mine was shoot a Coke can and look at it, and I'll never forget my uncle doing that. And he said, you see what that does to you? Or if you shot a squirrel, he said, that'll do the same thing to you, so you better respect it. And that went for a three wheeler or whatever. If you lost respect for something that's when it would hurt you. So, and that is absolutely important, and it's critical. And our instructors again, emphasize that over and over again.
Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. So you keep mentioning instructors. Are these instructors, are they volunteers or how do y'all find instructors for this course?
John Long: Well, volunteers and extension agents take on that role as well. We have a training that is pretty intense and they're taught how to basically ... And let me back up. I've had a lot of questions from people that were interested in volunteering and they say, Oh, I want to be an instructor, but I know absolutely nothing about firearms. I said, don't worry about it. I say, do you have a passion for teaching youth? And they'll say, Oh yes. I said, well, don't worry about that. We'll teach you everything else you need to know. We're going to teach you to be safe and we're going to teach you how to interact with a young person.
John Long: One of the things that the instructor is, and sometimes you'll hear them referred to as coaches, but one thing that an instructor is, is basically a mentor or a caring, responsible adult in order to instruct that person. So what you're going to find out is if you're an instructor, these young people are, or you're going to learn from them maybe what kind of home they come from, what kind of background they have, and you being that mentor, that positive caring adult, is going to be a positive influence in their life.
Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, I think that's of the utmost importance for sure. What about when the child signs up to compete in a S.A.F.E.T.Y. event? Are they responsible for bringing their own firearms or their own bow and arrow?
John Long: Yes.
Cobie Rutherford: Their own bullets?
John Long: Yes. They are responsible for bringing any type of whatever equipment that they're going to need. They need to bring it.
Cobie Rutherford: I got you, sure. So I think that's good in itself. Just learning how to safely transport firearms.
John Long: Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I'd say that it's one of the life skills you're going to learn is, you don't take your shotgun if it's been raining and you just don't throw it in a case, or put it in a gun cabinet with it wet. You learn the responsibility of keeping your firearm clean. I had somebody say something the other day, they said, Oh, I haven't cleaned my gun in years. I said, you better clean it. I said, because you take care of your gun, the gun will take care of you, and it'll perform the job what you want it to do as long as you take care of it. So yeah, that's definitely something that you learn.
Cobie Rutherford: So what events are coming up with S.A.F.E.T.Y.? I know you've got a pretty busy calendar for the next few months.
John Long: Yes, lordy. We are rolling, rolling, rolling. We had the last ... Well first of all, when it's not raining or when it wasn't raining, which was hard to do, right? The counties were having multi-County matches in order to qualify for the district events. And over the past two weekends we've had, we had the first three districts on the last weekend in April. And then we had, like I said earlier, we had the last district, Northwest district, had their event last Saturday. So we've wrapped up the district events. Now those senior age participants that qualified for a state invitational will actually have an opportunity to go. Now they don't have to go, but they will have an opportunity to participate at the state invitational and that is going be July the 19th through the 20th, and more information will come out on that. You just have to keep watching the website and keep in contact with your extension agent and they'll keep you informed on what you need in order to do that.
John Long: One of the exciting things that I enjoy doing is going to grand Island Nebraska every year, and that's going to be June the 23rd through the 28th. And that's where the national championship is held.
Cobie Rutherford: Oh, neat.
John Long: We've got a pretty good number of young people that's going to be participating in that and they have participation in all disciplines with the exception of hunting. And so we always have a good time and it's awesome. I think it's really important that young people in our state, they get exposed to a portion of the country that a lot of them have never seen before. And they get to interact with young people that they've never seen before. And some of them make lifelong friends from being there.
Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. And what better reason to go to Nebraska?
John Long: Right, exactly. Exactly.
Cobie Rutherford: You get to see part ... There's really ...
John Long: Well it's funny that ... Yeah, Grand Island Nebraska is home to Hornady Ammunition. I don't know if I can say that or not, but they are. And it's really cool to see how such a ... Of course you can go into any sporting goods store and see that ammunition. And I think, I've been in that building, I've seen them making those bullets. So that's really, really cool. So they have those attractions and Grant Allen is a great, great town. They are very welcoming to us. And I will say this, I was checking out of the hotel last year and the woman at the front desk, she said, this was four o'clock in the morning too, she said, "I just want you to know something". She said, "We are so happy when y'all come to town", she said, "Because we don't have to hire a security guard to walk around the halls". She says, "We have a lot of large softball tournaments and things that come in here and the young people just do not act appropriately", and so much they have to hire security to walk the halls all night long. So she said, "Your kids are some great", when I say, "yours", you know what I mean. I'm talking about 4-H overall. Said that, "They are so well behaved we don't have to worry about that". And I think that's a testament to what 4-H does to young people.
Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, good compliment for sure. Good deal. I'm excited to participate in my first S.A.F.E.T.Y. events coming up as a 4-H staff members, seeing what it's all about.
John Long: You will be amazed.
Cobie Rutherford: I'm sure I will. I probably never been in a location with that many firearms around at one time. So that's going to be pretty neat to see.
John Long: Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And it's one of those things that, yes, it is a lot of work to get ready for, but once it's underway and everybody you know is enjoying themselves and having a good time, and you just say the interaction that families have with their young people, it's a lot of ... I don't know how to say this, but it is a moving thing to see young people come together with a mutual interest, have a good time, and go home and ... One of the things, I will say this, I'm getting a little stammered, but one of the things that I always think of is every child I look at, I said one of those is the next national team member, one of those could be. And I'm going to get to know that individual. So, but it is fun. Yeah, you're going to enjoy it I think.
Cobie Rutherford: That's cool. It's like to go into the contest with their eye on the target, and hopefully come out with a prize.
John Long: That's right. That's right.
Cobie Rutherford: Very good.
John Long: And make sure to drink lots of water because you can imagine July.
Cobie Rutherford: It's going to be hot.
John Long: Yeah, July 19th or the 20th, I've only had one year that it was cool. It was a 2008 and it was, oh my goodness. It was like a spring day and I have never had that again.
Cobie Rutherford: I bet not.
John Long: I'm not living right I don't guess.
Cobie Rutherford: I got you. Well good deal. Well, I guess John, if you don't have anything else to add about the shooting sports S.A.F.E.T.Y. program, I've enjoyed learning about today.
John Long: Yes, I have too. Look, if you want to know more about the the 4-H S.A.F.E.T.Y. program, go to your local extension office. If you don't know how to do that, just do a Google on the Mississippi State University extension. Go to the webpage and you can pull up your County and found out that County officer. You can call our state 4-H office, (662)325-3350, or send me an email at John, J-O-H-N dot L-O-N-G at M-S-S-T-A-T-E dot E-D-U. Was that a good radio voice I did? Yeah, I thought so.
Cobie Rutherford: Sounds awesome.
John Long: That's all I got.
Cobie Rutherford: And y'all be sure to join us next time for episode three, where we'll be talking about the upcoming 2019 State 4-H Congress.
John Long: Oh yeah.
Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4-H4U2. For more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu, And be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4-H4U2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.
