Community Attitude Plays Role in Attracting Young
We’ve received several emails lately from newsletter readers asking how to retain youth in our communities. It’s a tough question, and one without one single answer. Some pieces, but not all, are support of and introduction to entrepreneurship at an early age, encouragement to return, connection to place, and respect of and taking youth seriously.
Community attitude is important. Do we have conversations with our youth encouraging them to return? Do we support their entrepreneurial ideas? Do we take them seriously? These are important questions to consider.
The culture we’ve developed often discourages youth from returning to our communities. When they actually do return, we repeatedly ask them why and can’t get past seeing them as they were. I had a conversation recently with two young medical professionals who’d gone back to their communities to open businesses. They are successful now and well accepted, but both had considered leaving. Why? People could not get past who these folks were as kids. After all, little Johnny broke that window on Main Street – is he really ready to be a pharmacist? Past perceptions affected people’s present perceptions.
I recently showed three slides as a kick-off to a generational difference presentation: pictures of 16-year olds, 50-somethings, and 65+. Participants were to write down the first thing that came to mind when they saw these slides. The vast majority identified the 16 and 65+ folks by their age only, i.e., “young” or “old.” The 50-somethings were identified by a role, i.e., business professional, etc. Do we value our youth (and elderly community members) if we see them only by their age?
Recently a series of focus groups was held by the University of Nebraska to discuss a new 4-H curriculum at the EntrepreneurShip Investigation (http://4h.unl.edu). Comments from the young entrepreneur’s listening session were quite telling. Some of their comments: “[my community does not] take youth seriously,” “[we get the message that] you are just a kid,” “there is a barrier between new ideas and old ones.” From the education listening session, “ high school students like being respected as individuals and as potential entrepreneurs … let people know this.”
We need to take a closer look at what we are saying, implying and actually demonstrating. Include youth, listen to them, encourage entrepreneurial training, create an entrepreneurial environment and remind them that we’d like them to come home again some day.
Contact: Kathie Starkweather, kathies@cfra.org or 402.438.8496 for more information.
Community attitude is important. Do we have conversations with our youth encouraging them to return? Do we support their entrepreneurial ideas? Do we take them seriously? These are important questions to consider.
The culture we’ve developed often discourages youth from returning to our communities. When they actually do return, we repeatedly ask them why and can’t get past seeing them as they were. I had a conversation recently with two young medical professionals who’d gone back to their communities to open businesses. They are successful now and well accepted, but both had considered leaving. Why? People could not get past who these folks were as kids. After all, little Johnny broke that window on Main Street – is he really ready to be a pharmacist? Past perceptions affected people’s present perceptions.
I recently showed three slides as a kick-off to a generational difference presentation: pictures of 16-year olds, 50-somethings, and 65+. Participants were to write down the first thing that came to mind when they saw these slides. The vast majority identified the 16 and 65+ folks by their age only, i.e., “young” or “old.” The 50-somethings were identified by a role, i.e., business professional, etc. Do we value our youth (and elderly community members) if we see them only by their age?
Recently a series of focus groups was held by the University of Nebraska to discuss a new 4-H curriculum at the EntrepreneurShip Investigation (http://4h.unl.edu). Comments from the young entrepreneur’s listening session were quite telling. Some of their comments: “[my community does not] take youth seriously,” “[we get the message that] you are just a kid,” “there is a barrier between new ideas and old ones.” From the education listening session, “ high school students like being respected as individuals and as potential entrepreneurs … let people know this.”
We need to take a closer look at what we are saying, implying and actually demonstrating. Include youth, listen to them, encourage entrepreneurial training, create an entrepreneurial environment and remind them that we’d like them to come home again some day.
Contact: Kathie Starkweather, kathies@cfra.org or 402.438.8496 for more information.
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Comments
I wrote about this too!
I was born in Winchester, Indiana, grew up on a farm just outside of town, graduated from WCHS in 1976, then commuted back and forth to Ball State, and upon graduation in 1979, left. For me, the best part about growing up in Randolph County was(is) that some things never change. I knew I could always come “home.” But, you want to know what the worst part about growing up in Randolph County was? It was(is) that some things never change.
With a little age on me now, I’ve learned what everyone here knows to be true but never acknowledges out loud and that is that there is really no reason to leave, but there’s not a lot of reasons to stay or come back to stay. Back then, hopes and dreams of life in a factory or on a farm did not really inspire a lot of teenaged ambition. I may be way wrong, but I doubt many teens would say they do today either. Before you write me off as a malcontent, you should know I came home to be near an aging mother, who, while insisting she does not need any help, really likes it that she has an extra daughter to take her out shopping now and then. I’m not at all sorry to be here although my life is far different.
Living very much the life of an “artistic type” I’ve travelled and lived and worked in a lot of places since moving away, and I learned quite a bit by living in other communities and then coming back to this one.
*If you want small towns to thrive, don’t bring in big business. Yes, I know the allure of making a dime by selling your land to developers can sure seem appealing when it seems like you’re down to the last 2 nickels to rub together, but once you do, it’s gone--along with many of the small mom and pop shops supported by foot traffic on the main square.
*If you want family farms to thrive, don’t bring in agri-industry. Yes, the allure of selling your land to agri-industrial giants seems attractive when you’re down to the last 2 nickels to rub together, but once you do, it’s gone--along with all the farm neighbors we count on to support the pastor down at the country church, all the tourists who stay away because of the stink that even Wick’s Hoosier Pie can’t disguise, and all the teens who might have come home to work the family farm when dad gets sick but for darned sure ain’t coming home to work in a manure pit created by 5,000 pigs jammed in pens so tight they can’t turn around.
*If you want your teens to grow up and actually consider coming back here to live and think highly of the job you all did, as store owners, as Commissioners, as factory workers, City police officers, or teachers, bring in art and music and fresh green trees. Bring in jobs, sure, but bring in jobs that don’t do more damage than good. Bring in sustainable agricultural methods that will allow the family farm to be operational until the day that teen is ready to come home. Bring in windmills to power the water supply, and keep the ground water pure enough to drink when you turn on the tap.
These things I know for sure.
youth returning home
Tammy -
I really enjoyed reading what you shared and very much appreciate your viewpoint. We'd talked at length about the need to address some of the things you reference and would very much like to talk to you a little more to continue to learn from your perspective. I'd love to talk to you directly - my phone number is 402-438-8496; email kathies@cfra.org.
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