How you gonna keep em down on the farm …
By Timlynn Babitsky
“What can we do to keep our kids here?” IS the wrong question. “What can we do to get them to come back home?” is the real question to ask, and providing jobs and economic opportunities is only one part of the answer.
People will leave and come back to a place that draws them back strongly, that tugs at their hearts often and that deepens and nourishes their roots and sense of belonging. Just growing up in a place doesn’t guarantee that it will be such a magnet.
The key question we need to ask ourselves in rural areas, is NOT how can we keep the kids here but rather — how can we inspire in them that deep sense of connection and awe of place that will bring them back to the HomeTown they love — armed with new and creative solutions to old problems that they have come to understand better “out in the world.”
Technorati tags: rural, small, biz, entrepreneurs, business, town, NARFI, brain, drain, outmigration
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