Page 24 - Robeson Living Spring 2021

Being Virtual

Before Virtual

was Cool or

Necessary

By Shea Ann DeJarnette,
Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent

Imagine putting on a pair of goggles and going to a dairy farm Generation Z is often compared to the silent generation. That’s
or touring the International Space Station or walking through because they often have that waste not, want not mentality.
the International Seed Vault. Things you may never have a They want to preserve the resources and leave the world a bet-
chance to do in person but you can through immersive expe- ter place for those who come behind them. So, with all of that
rience. The benefits are you don’t have to watch where you being said, how do we reach this generation of youth when this
walk at the dairy farm, you don’t have to go through rigorous is over? It won’t be just how we did it before or during the
physical testing to go to the space station, and you don’t have pandemic but perhaps a combination of both. In 4-H, before
to travel to the top of the world bundled up to visit the seed the pandemic, we utilized a tool allowing us to introduce youth
vault. It also saves travel dollars while creating a lasting image to the world virtually - virtual reality (VR) goggles. Now we
and memory (not to mention it’s a fun way to learn). This is can’t just put the goggles on every child for health reasons, so
just a small part of what we were able to offer students prior to we would like to use them to create social learning environ-
COVID, and now we are working on a new plan to let children ment for youth. We are looking for youth who have Oculus
experience these sites and more, while practicing social skills compatible goggles that want to help us design, change, and
without ever having to leave home. educate other youths on social courtesies, issues, and problems
and find solutions they can then teach the world about. Our
During the pandemic, researchers have been busy developing hope is to be able to design a meeting environment similar to
vaccines, looking at the effects of COVID-19 on our bodies, our face-to-face meetings and create something beneficial to
and studying people’s emotional and mental well-being. As everyone.
part of this, it has been suggested that Generation Z will be
the most heavily impacted generation in terms of social skills, If you have a child who is 13 and
since they have been inside for more than a year. It makes over with Oculus compatible
sense when you consider Generation Z members range from goggle ability and is interested
late elementary school through college. To say their education in charting new territory, please
has been impacted is more than fair. For socialization they consider registering them for
have turned to social media platforms - they prefer video calls our 4-H VR club, where we can
to phone calls, they stream videos rather than watch TV, stream change the world together. To
music rather than listen to the radio. They are essentially inside register for 4-H you can scan
during the pandemic, so their relaxation and exercise frequent- the QR code, which will take
ly come from video games and videos they find online. They you to 4-H Online, or download
have embraced the virtual world more than ever, and research- our free app from your app store
ers believe after the pandemic, for the majority of Generation Z titled “4-H Now!” When you
members, this will still be a way of life. Maybe not as prevalent open it, click on Robeson County
as it is now during the pandemic, but it will be a permanent 4-H, then click the join button, which will take you to 4-H On-
change for how they, and those behind them, do things. line to register your child for 4-H. There is no cost to be a 4-H
Page 24 Robeson Living ~ Spring 2021