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Why the Young People Have Gone (How We Can Get Them Back)

Jim Correll, director Fab Lab ICC at Independence Community College, Independence Kansas 

We've Told Them To Leave 

It’s a common question at community and economic development meetingsIt’s usually prefaced with discussion about the general decline in population in rural areas of KansasAnd then someone says “Why are our young people leaving?” The answer is that the youth are doing just what we’ve told them to doFor at least the last 60 years, we’ve told them to leaveThe message, from our families, our schools, our peers, indeed, all of society has been that the opportunities are all “out there somewhere” and to be successful in life, you’ll have to go somewhere elseThat part of the message has been very directA more subtle part of the message is the implication that if you come back to your home town, it means you couldn’t “cut it” in the citySo, off they’ve gone for generations, many never to return and we wonder why they have gone. 

How do we change this?  

Here are three things we should be doing1.) Change the message; 2.) As they leave to find fame, fortune or education, tell them they are always welcome to return and 3.) Invite those already “out there” to return. 

1.) Change the message to one that says opportunities lie within finding solutions to the problems of others and that you can solve problems for others as an employee of a company or as an entrepreneur and small business ownerThere are problems, hence, opportunities everywhere. 

2.) At 18 – 20 years old, most youth want to see their home towns in the rear view mirror; that’s naturalWe need to encourage them to “go out into the world” and find their way to a happy and fulfilling life by solving problems for othersHowever, we need to also say that their home town is part of the “world” and there are plenty of problems here that need to be solved, and, that they are always welcome to come homeHumboldt, Kansas gives each graduating senior a personalized mail box as a symbolic invitation to return at any time. 

3.) Every small town should have a process for inviting the home-town youth to returnThis effort would include a database of youth identities and locations discovered through inquiries with local family members and class reunion organizersThen, systematically, young people are invited to returnOf course everyone won’t be interested in coming home, but even a success rate of 10% would be impressive. 

I’ve noticed that the best and brightest young people returning to the area as entrepreneurs and professionals are coming back to be close to familyWe should do everything we can to encourage them to come back to their families and that there are opportunities everywhere, especially in their home towns. 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349 or by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu.


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