Change for Older Generation Parents
In the passage “The Heartland and the Rural Youth Exodus”, the authors Carr and Kefalas both describe the different changes that happen to the youth. They depict the issues that arise when the youth leaves in search of bigger things that are outside of the small towns. Throughout the article, the issues of change in small towns is addressed and emphasized as a catastrophe for the future of these towns. The talk about the youth and towns fading away is not the only thing one thinks about when reading this article. The youth are not the only people being affected; the older generation parents of the youth are having to face the biggest change because they have the option of leaving or staying. This change can
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All the drastic changes that the world has been through, and Carr and Kefalas show that in their writing. These changes at some time made the current town, were they live, a thriving and prosperous place. People would move from their towns to these prospering communities to seek out the benefits that were offered. Many of those small towns are slowly fading into the background because of the modern world changes that big and upcoming cities that offering. These changes are creating new jobs and environments for the youth that are looking for change in the small towns that once were big and thriving, are now filled with the older generation that don’t want to make the change. They are looking to keep things consistent with the life they have been living; some changes in their eyes are not good, they are just creating problems. In Carr and Kefalas’s article they write about living in a small town called Ellis in Iowa. Carr and Kefalas talked to an employee working at a new factory in Ellis, “A machine operator living in Ellis complains about the strugglers facing old-fashion workers who find themselves trapped in a newfangled economy” (33). People living in small towns are unlikely to adapt to new changes, but are having to because of companies starting new factories in their community. This new technology is bound to change the life of older generation parents, whether they choose to stay in their small town lifestyle or move to …show more content…
Going through the same thing every day can be comforting and change can create chaos in the everyday routine. After the youth leaves change will set in but will change the outcomes of the activities that occur. Some parents will enjoy the free time that has been presented and others will fade and not know what to do. Older generation parents have readjusted before and have had to change their life to incorporate the youth coming into their life; some transitions were easier than others. Some of the parents find that moving out of their community is not the way to change the pace of life that is occurring. Yet the change of moving would create a drastic change of pace; some of the parents in Ellis tell Carr and Kefalas, “They fear that the outside world will expect them to change too much of who and what they are” (21). Making a change would require something that most parents don’t have, and that would be wanting to leave. Most of the older generation are content with the life they have; yet the ability of having a change of pace is enticing.
Change is always difficult, whether the older generation is moving or reestablishing a way of living in the same place; the older generation has to make the big decision of what is best for their future. Carr and Kefalas have interviewed many people in
The Relevancy of the Heartland - Hinterland Distinction in Canada's Economic Geography Until the early 20th century, Canada was primarily an agricultural nation. Since then it has become one of the most highly industrialized countries in the world as a direct result of the development of the ‘heartland'. To a large extent the manufacturing industries present in the heartland are supplied with raw materials produced by the agricultural, mining, forestry, and fishing sectors of the Canadian economy, a region known as the ‘hinterland'. The ‘ heartland-hinterland' concept in Canada describes patterns of economic power, namely, where economic power and control resides within the nation.
Small towns, quaint and charming, ideally picturesque for a small family to grow up in with a white picket fence paired up with the mother, father and the 2.5 children. What happens when that serene local town, exuberantly bustling with business, progressively loses the aspects that kept it alive? The youth, boisterous and effervescent, grew up surrounded by the local businesses, schools and practices, but as the years wear on, living in that small town years down the road slowly grew to be less appealing. In The Heartland and the Rural Youth Exodus by Patrick J. Carr and Maria Kefalas equally argue that “small towns play an unwitting part in their own decline (Carr and Kefalas 33) when they forget to remember the “untapped resource of the
Jean Louise “Scout” and Jem Finch experienced life in the 1930’s living in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Their childhood was a nonstop adventure that brought jocund days and testing trials that teenager’s today experience even with the world around us changing every day. The moral upbringings, educational importance, and the crime rate of small towns all contributed to the childhood memories that were built every day in Maycomb County. These attributes to childhood experiences have changed a lot over the vast time period between the 1930’s and 2000’s. The moral upbringings are different in the way that children living now are experiencing a different surrounding in their everyday life and have lost morals that were taught in the 1930’s. Education is more important now than in the 1930’s because of the many laws that have been established to keep children well educated to help them succeed. Living in a small town had many advantages like the low crime rate; crime rate has risen and caused an effect on small town life. There are many similarities as well as differences between the childhood in the 1930’s and the 2000’s. The changes that have occurred affect my life as a young Alabamian every day in many ways.
These surveys showed that most of them wanted to move or stay in the suburbs. 66% of them want to move to the suburbs, while the other 44% wants to live in rural areas or in cities (A2). The article “The Geography of Aging: Why Millennials are Heading to the Suburbs,” by Joel Kotkin, says that the media is suggesting that Millennials are moving to the cities. There are books that are telling readers that the younger generation doesn’t like the suburbs. The migration of Millennials to the suburbs is trying to be prevented through the media. They are afraid that our way of life is going to change and they fear
In small town USA gender inequality, doesn’t exist because any hand is a hand and all work is need form anyone no matter the gender. According to the article “The Heartland and the Rural Youth Exodus” the authors Patrick J. Carr and Maria J. Kefalas express how small town USA is decimating because the loss of “…the younger generation, is hollowing out many of the nation’s small towns and rural communities” (1-2). However, women equality has been suppressed and forgotten because of other “pressing matters”, but gender equality is much more pressing then many think. This idea of equal pay isn’t prominent in larger places. Unequal pay isn’t just found in America, but all over the world. In France women get paid 50% of what men get paid and in
While I can certain attest to the fact that at age 25 I am far wiser than I was at age 18; I do not believe that this is the result of institutional failures. I went to a public school where I was afforded free education and electives design to help with the transition to adulthood. Like the author’s sister I too lived with my parents well in to adulthood but I contribute that to my unwillingness to advance to that next change. Students in this very institution squander federal grants by refusing to show up to class or accomplish assignment; a luxury often not found in developing nations. Hard’s economic angle lacks substance when juxtapose with much poorer countries that transition its generation Y quicker in to adulthood out of necessity. In this regard Hard’s stance on the lack of motivation being the driving force is correct but I would argue is not because of the lack of economic prosperity but the lack of urgency. Generation Y is not being drafted as 15 year olds to fight war nor are they being forced in to arrange marriage at a similar age. The factors simple do not exist that would spark such urgency, as a result this complacency is usually viewed as laziness or lacking direction. Societies pleas for millennials to grow up is usually not back up by consequences due to the institutions and social safety nets we have
Every person that lives to adulthood has gone through the stereotypical teenage phase: the sudden change in personality that causes every mother in the world to throw up her hands in exasperation. Because growing up is a such a relatable experience, countless pieces of literature have touched upon it, from Peter Pan to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. A constant topic in all these books is change, due to the fact that coming of age is the maturing of a person from a child into a teenager into an adult. Another work that deals with change is Annie John, by Jamaica Kincaid, which tells the story of Annie’s growth from a ten year old to a seventeen year old in a series of loosely chronological anecdotes. A theme that
to the younger parents and the younger generation of what they’re in for if they do away
In believing that “today’s cities play a different economic role than they did in the past,” Kotkin argues that “At best, Jacobs’s compelling portrait from 1961 is something of an anachronism,” meaning that her lessons are out of place in the current era (Kotkin). Kotkin pulls in details from researcher Gary Evans saying, “Families in urban apartments today… generally have far weaker networks of neighbors than their suburban counterpart, a generally more stressful home life, and significantly less ‘social support’” (Kotkin). Kotkin further implies that Jacobs is outdated when quoting her mentioning how suburbs are not a good place to bring up children (Kotkin). Today the general consensus is that cities are not a safe place to raise a family and that the city is just as stepping stone towards career advancement that will eventually lead a person to a domesticated suburbia lifestyle (Kotkin). “Jacobs… instinctively hated where families were in fact headed: the suburbs” claiming that “neighborhoods like her own... [were] ideal places where locals watched out for each other” (Kotkin). Many families flee cities in hopes of finding a safer community for their children. “[I]n 2011 children 5-14 constitute about seven percent in core districts… [which is] roughly half the level
Schmitt-Wilson, Sarah (2013). Social Class and Expectations of Rural Adolescents: The Role of Parental Expectations, Career Development Quarterly. Volume 61, pages 226-239.
The state of Vermont is currently experiencing an odd population scenario, where the population is decreasing and the average age is rising. Today, the average age of a Vermonter has reached 55 years old whereas; the national average is 38 years old (McKinsy, n.d.). Nationally, Millennials are beginning to outnumber Baby Boomers however, not in Vermont. This is a direct correlation to the cost of living, as Millennials entering the workforce find it too expensive to live in Vermont, proof being that Vermont is in to the top most expensive states to live in the United States (Woolf, 2017). As a result, Millennials are moving elsewhere, and beginning their families as their careers progress in their area of relocation. To mitigate this trend
After graduating high school, I almost immediately moved out of my parents’ house and have been both financially and emotionally independent ever since. This is not the product of poor parent and child relationship, but the old fashion rule or standard of “your eight-teen and have graduated high school, we, as parents, did our part now it’s your turn, as an adult, to take charge of your own life”. This is not commonly seen or practiced by parents of adolescents in today’s society. According to John W. Santrock of the University of Texas and the writer of Essential of Life-Span Development, “In matters of taste and manners, the young people of every generation have seemed unnervingly radical kind different from adults-different in how they look, how they behave, in the music they enjoy, in their hairstyles, and I the clothing they choose” (Santrock, p. 250). It is because of this need to be different and the changing ideas of older generations that rules or standards, such as the ones my parents set for me, are evolving into a new way of raising adolescents. “The old method of parent-adolescent relationships suggests that as adolescents mature, they detach themselves from parents and move into a world of autonomy apart from their parents. The new model emphasizes that parents serve as important attachment figures and support systems while adolescents explore a wider, more complex social world” (Santrock, p. 280). Whether parents
It especially can be difficult for children, who may not grasp the significance of why their lives are being disrupted. They only know they’re leaving playmates, a familiar house, school routines and daily activities.
As countries pursue development and industrialization the need to build urban areas become certain. The lack of urban cities will cause people in the rural areas wants to move to the urban areas. Every person wants a standard of living better than where is he now. Therefore the drive to migrate to urban areas becomes obvious. Rural to urban migration leads to a loss of man power in the rural areas to work on the farm lands. It will lead to the declining of agriculture. It also leads to congestion in the urban areas therefore unemployment level will raise because people would fight over limited jobs. Poor housing situation will also increase because people from the rural areas choose to stay in an area near their jobs or livelihood because they can save a lot of money instead of using it for transportation. Informal settlers can cause a dispute with the government regarding with their place. The crime level will also increase it is because people who are desperate to earn money or wanted an easy way to earn money without hard work they choose the path of evil which can be destructive to people’s life and can affect the development of an area.
As I started out researching for the paper, I realized that most importantly, data would need to be collected comparing the educational opportunities and achievement of the rural youth and those of urban youth. For instance, high school grades and SAT scores could be compared, as well as college applications and attendance. Beyond this, the actual school systems of rural and urban areas would be compared - the differences in funding, ideology, resources, etc., would grant insight into the students’ experiences and goals there.