Teen Leadership Skill Development Through Participation in Leadership Training

Teen leadership skill development programs are important to provide teens necessary skills for future success. Teen’s developmental needs have to be met, they need to be provided opportunities to engage in programs that are age appropriate and tailored to build their leadership skills. Thoughtful leadership programming becomes important during the time when 4-H youth membership begins to decrease. The project reported here aimed to determine if participation in teen leadership skill training increased teen’s perception of their leadership skills and increased their intent to stay engaged in programming. The design of the study was descriptive survey. A pre and post survey questionnaire was distributed to all (n = 7) study participants. The findings of the study were consistent with previous research showing that teen’s perception of their leadership skills will increase as a result of leadership training. A long-term leadership program interest questionnaire was distributed at the conclusion of the training to all (n = 7) study participants. The findings of the interest questionnaire were consistent with previous research showing teens intend to stay engaged when programming is developmentally appropriate and has real-world application. Additionally, the results of the study show that teens report acquisition of skills needed for active participation in future leadership opportunities.