My+Rural+Life

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 * Living in the wide open spaces is common for over 30% of our nations teens and tweens. The communities are often smaller, closer, and teens often face stereotypes that are unfair and unfounded. There are pros and cons to living anywhere, but here Rural teens can share their stories and Urban teens can learn what it is really like.**

Stereotypes of Reality?
Although rural communities can provide many assets for youth, such as smaller schools and tightly connected networks of adults and peers, some rural youth assume significant risks compared to their urban counterparts.
 * Historically, rural youth have had lower post secondary educational achievement, lower academic attainment expectations, and fewer career goals.
 * They also expect to marry and have children earlier.
 * Rural communities also have high poverty rates, limited resources for schools including low teacher salaries and declining enrollment, and strains on family life.
 * They have few options for post secondary schooling and jobs in their home towns.
 * To be competitive in today's economy, rural youth often face the difficult decision of leaving behind their communities and families to move to bigger towns and cities where they must confront very different ways of life.
 * Those who choose to stay must grapple with limited opportunities, often leading to a patchwork of multiple jobs.
 * They also form families of their own earlier and often do not have higher education and job training to bolster their chances of economic success.
 * Unfortunately, even in the midst of all these challenges, some rural youth have more avoidant coping strategies.

Looking at the list above, what would you consider is true about your community and what is just a stereotype that needs to be overcome?
[|Share your opinion]

There's Just Nothing To Do
Many rural teens claim that there is nothing to do in their communities. Their neighborhoods are often isolated and homes are sometimes miles apart: making it all the more tempting to find trouble.

Is there any truth in this?
[|Share your story]

Drugs More Common in Rural Areas
Drugs have moved from the city to the farm, Columbia University researchers said. The basic method used in past drug education programs had been the "scare tactic" approach, an attempt to shock and frighten youth away from drugs. Success of this program, the Web site says, was questionable at best. The new programs, aimed at the same age groups targeted by programs like D.A.R.E., uses a refined approach that speaks to kids in their own language: humor.

What is your opinion? Is Drug use more of a problem in rural areas then people think?
[|Share your opinion]

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