Youth Engagement Update

September 2014

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Five Myths

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Five Myths About Rural Youth

Download this paper to share our research on Rural Youth HERE

This is an exciting time to be involved in youth engagement and recruitment of new residents to rural communities as momentum builds among young people seeking a rural lifestyle. However, there are several important misconceptions, or myths, about this topic that restrain rural leaders from being successful. In this update, I will address five myths that are common stumbling blocks.

Five Myths About Rural Youth

Craig Schroeder

Over the past decade, through the active involvement of community leaders and educators, surveys have been completed with more than 40,000 middle school to high school age youth across rural America and in Victoria Australia. In addition, representative groups of young people have participated in focus groups, providing further insights into attitudes and perspectives about their future and the future of their rural communities. Utilizing this assessment data, rural community leaders have been actively engaging youth and cultivating opportunities for them to stay or return to their hometowns. The following five myths discuss important misconceptions about young people and the future of rural communities based upon this extensive body of work.

Myth 1. Young people don't appreciate rural communities.

Forty-six percent (46%) of rural youth surveyed nationally rate their hometown as an above average to excellent place to live as a young person.

Rural youth participating in focus groups provide very consistent responses when asked to describe what they like best about their hometowns including, "strong family ties, small town quality of life, friendly and safe environment." They also share common perspectives about improvements needed to make their hometown a more attractive place of youth to live such as, "more local recreation, shopping and restaurant options, better local career opportunities, and less emphasis on just school and sports activities."

Myth 2. Youth don't want to be involved in their community.

Young people from rural communities participating in focus groups commonly express frustration that they are not asked for their input on important community decisions and are interested in being involved in community activities. They often also have well thought out ideas on how to improve their communities. A parallel concern expressed by youth who have been asked for their input is that they feel their contributions were not valued or acted upon. Another issue sometimes expressed is that only a handful of youth, typically recognized student leaders, are asked without regard to the larger community of young people.

Myth 3. Youth don't want to come back to rural communities.

Right at half (50%) of rural youth surveyed nationally indicate that they picture themselves living in their hometown area in the future. Consistently, the reasons provided for this desire is connection to family and a perspective that their hometown is a good place to raise a family.

Myth 4. There are no career opportunities in rural communities for young people.

For rural youth indicating that they do not picture themselves living in their hometown in the future, the most common responses are a perceived lack of local career opportunities and that they can make more money elsewhere.

Interestingly, a common concern expressed by rural business owners is that there are not enough skilled workers, especially in technical fields, available to help them to grow their businesses.

Myth 5. Rural communities cannot do anything about youth outmigration trends.

The results experienced by rural communities engaged with young people over the past decade clearly indicate that out-migration is not an inevitable situation. Rather, building a strategy upon a foundation of local assets and resources that helps young people pursue local career and business opportunities, become involved as active community volunteers and leaders with the support of adult mentors, and prioritizing investments in youth enterprises, is what makes a difference.

Taking Action:

If you want to move beyond the myths to achieving real results in attracting youth and new residents to your community, you need a proven strategy. This strategy needs to address economic opportunities, leadership, mentoring and investment in the priorities of your young people. To discuss creating such a strategy, built upon local assets and resources, please contact Craig Schroeder at craig@e2mail.org.

Other Center News

August Webinars.

Recently we partnered with the Community Strategies Group of the Aspen Institute and conducted community meetings for five communities in West Central Texas including Lubbock (home of Texas Tech University), Post, Levelland, Plainview and Slaton with the Lubbock Area Foundation. The loss and attraction of young adults was a consistent theme. As part of the project, we developed some indicators that are being used by these communities. Download a sample report here. For more information, contact Don Macke at don@e2mail.org.

e2 Fall Webinar Series.

This fall, we will be offering a series of e2 webinars focused on Working with Entrepreneurs. This series is for local, regional and state development practitioners and will explore the art and science of working directly with entrepreneurs. Use the link above to find a detailed description of the series along with dates and cost of the webinars. Register now to start reading the books that are included and receive an early bird registration discount!

Field News

The Daily Yonder recently reported on research published in the American Educational Research Journal which aligns well our assessment data regarding youth attitudes about returning to rural communities. The research found that high-achieving high school students are not necessarily more likely to leave a rural community than students who aren't as interested in academics.

Community Matters has an interesting article about putting greater emphasis on design in rural community development. Of particular interest is the video about Project H working with high school students in Bertie County, NC to use design as education in addressing community needs through applied learning.

For more information about anything you've read in this newsletter, please contact

Craig Schroeder at craig@e2mail.org.

The Center for Rural Entrepreneurship's mission is to help community leaders build a prosperous future by supporting and empowering business, social and civic entrepreneurs. With our roots and hearts in rural America, we help communities of all sizes and interests by bringing empowering research together with effective community engagement to advance community-driven strategies for prosperity.

Our Solution Area teams empower community leaders to find their own answers to the economic development challenges and opportunities they face.
www.energizingentrepreneurs.org