Youth see future for them in rural communities

Normally in this column after the Chase County Fair, I would be writing about how successful another fair had been. By the way, it WAS another outstanding fair, especially after missing it last year due to COVID.
    In a way though, the Chase County Fair ties in perfectly with the theme for this week’s column.
    This week, the Nebraska Community Foundation released the findings from a comprehensive survey of middle school and high school youth it conducted between January and May of 2021.
    What the survey showed is that the youth in Nebraska very much value the lifestyle of growing up in rural communities in our state.
    Perhaps even more important, they can see themselves coming back and playing a role in the future of their communities.
    For too long, we’ve told our kids there was no future in coming back to their hometowns. That’s changing and it’s beginning to pay dividends.
    With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve all learned that people can work from just about anywhere and get their jobs done. As a gigabit community, Imperial offers all of the  connectivity to work remotely. That makes Imperial a great place for our young people to come back to in the future.
    Here are  some interesting tidbits from the survey:
    • Sixty-four percent said their ideal community is small, like their hometown—a significant increase from 47% in 2020.
    • When asked whether a stigma accompanied staying in or returning to their community, 76% said no, up from 70% last year.
More than 90% of respondents said they feel safe in their hometowns, and other answers indicate they value others’ safety, too.
    Almost 80% said they were likely to act to stop unfair treatment of others, and 61% said they were likely to be an advocate for embracing diversity and inclusion in their communities.
    One disturbing response was that only 25% of respondents said they feel they play a role in their community, down from 49% in 2020.     We need to ensure these students’ voices are heard in shaping the future of our community.
    Rural communities offer a unique style of life that can’t be replicated in the big city. We need to capitalize on the attitudes and opinions of our youth and bring them back home.