Youth – Returning Home?
January 8, 2011
Craig Schroeder of the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship had this piece in a recent newsletter under the title “Communication Gap”. Has anybody else had similar – or different – experiences with kids’ desires to come back home?
“I have been traveling extensively over the past couple of months, meeting with youth and young adults from around the country. I continue to be impressed by the caliber of young people that our rural communities produce, but too often export. The majority of youth I talk with in focus groups are very thoughtful about their communities, their future plans and what would attract them to stay or return to their hometowns.
Recent feedback from one focus group consisting of high school students who all lived on family farms was particularly interesting, and a bit troubling. When I asked them if they had an interest in staying or returning to their hometown in the future, only one youth raised his hand.
As I explored the topic further, it became apparent that these students were viewing this question only in terms of returning to farm. They shared with me that their parents were encouraging them not to farm. When I asked them if they would be interested in staying or returning if other career options were available, all of the students raised their hands.
The purpose for sharing this story is not to debate the importance of encouraging youth to pursue production agriculture. This is certainly a critical issue to rural communities and our nation. Rather, my goal is to illustrate the potentially significant impact upon youth and rural communities caused by not exposing young people to a variety of local career and entrepreneurial options, including a range of agricultural opportunities.
This group of students assumed that if they were not interested in farming, they had to leave their hometown to pursue other career interests. They had made this assumption because no one was helping them to explore other local options. Hopefully, this situation will now change due to the candid input of youth to community leaders seeking to engage youth in more meaningful ways.
It’s very interesting what you can learn from youth by just listening to what they are really saying. Sometimes it takes an experienced ear to hear the real message and then dig deeper to find the real meaning behind the message. Helping rural communities listen to their youth and act upon the message are two important aspects of the Center’s work. If you would like to visit about how we may be of value in your work with young people, please contact me at craig@e2mail.org.”
The above piece raises some interesting questions and points to some very real opportunities for rural communities. Have we instilled in our youth the perception that it is necessary to leave their hometown permanently if they wish to find a fulfilling career? What can communities offer that will retain their youth?
In my opinion, we need to rethink the mixed messages we send our youth throughout their elementary and secondary educational careers. We hammer the idea that they must do their best in order for them go on to bigger and better; with the underlying tone that bigger and better is not where they are growing up. It is ironic that we justify expenditures in education with the valid argument that investment in the education our community’s children is an investment our community’s future. Then in their commencement address, they are given the message that the world is their oyster; now go start out and build a career out in that world. We should also let them know there is nothing wrong with seeing the world, furthering their education or even just cure their wanderlust elsewhere. Then with that message, we should leave them with an open invitation to return to their hometown with their newfound knowledge and begin building the next portion their lives there.
Youth entrepreneurship education programs through our schools and state extension, local economic development with an eye towards “quality of life-improving enterprises” that are desired by younger members of the community just entering the workforce and a embracing a culture that encourages its youth to pursue their life journey in their home town would all help stem the loss of home grown talent that so many rural areas experience.