Family Magazine reports that 76% of middle school age youth are babysitting either family members or other’s children. Childcare training provides life skills in parenting. Babysitting is often a youth’s first gainful employment experience. The Meade County Cooperative Extension Service 4-H program offered an 8 hour 4-H Babysitting Basics programs at Stuart Pepper Middle School as an afterschool program.

This program was a collaborative effort between the Meade County 4-H Youth Development program, the Stuart Pepper Youth Services Center, and the Meade County Cooperative Extension Service office. The 4-H program created the recruitment flyer and provided the 8 educational hours to participants. The youth service center helped to recruit participants and obtained parental permission for them to stay.  The event was hosted at the middle school during their afterschool program time for four days.

Eighteen 7^th – 8^th grade youth, all female (2 Hispanic, 2 Black, and 14 White), learned about child development and milestones, safety and first aid, toys and activities for children, basic care of infants, toddlers and children, how to make healthy afterschool snacks, and the business basics of being a self-employed babysitter. Each day, participants learned how to prepare an easy and economical afterschool snack using a KYNEP recipes from the Plan. Eat. Move website.

Evaluation included written pre-tests and post-tests and daily discussions on lessons from the previous day. A comparison of the pre-post test scores showed an increase in knowledge in the following content areas: handling an emergency, what to do with a surprise visitor, proper positioning of an infant for sleeping, developmental needs of an infant, sanitation, and cleanliness, maintain good business records, and positive child behavior guidance.  Participants also shared that the following skills had been gained and used because of participating in this program: learning how to perform infant care (i.e. changing diapers, feeding and burping, bathing and changing clothes), keeping accurate records, ability to communicate in front of a group, use of safety practices, preparing healthy and economical snacks, and keeping a child occupied during a babysitting job.  During the lesson on setting your babysitting fees, seventy-five percent of participants reassessed the hourly wage they were charging prior to the babysitting clinic and chose to raise their rates an average of $10.00 - $15.00 per hour.

Of the original eighteen youth registered to participate, eleven attended all four days of the program and officially graduated as 4-H Babysitting Clinic participants – each received a certificate.  All participants received a 4-H Babysitting bag filled with resources and tools to help them succeed as a babysitting business owner.

Prior to taking the 4-H Babysitting Basics course, just over 50 percent of the youth had not cared for children but felt better prepared after completing the class. One hundred percent of participants could state and understand the primary responsibilities of a babysitter. One hundred percent of these future babysitters learned at least 3 vital pieces of information they need to know before parents leave the home; these youth could also name two places or people to contact in event of an emergency.