Similarities in Challenges Facing Rural and Urban Youth

Youth of the 90s are more likely to have experimented with alcohol, tobacco, and sex before their 15th birthday, and are more likely than ever to live in a family headed by a divorced or never-married parent (Barrons et al, 1997). Young people across the United States face serious problems whether they live in a rural or an urban area. Consistent research has been conducted analyzing the problems that youth face in today's world. Most research has focused on urban regions of the U.S. However, in

A 1990 study of eight southeastern states showed that the teenage birthrate was generally higher for rural than metropolitan young women. The rate for women aged 15 to 19 was 20% in the rural areas, compared to 15% for urban areas. However, abortion rates were much lower for women in rural areas than in urban. The abortion rate in rural areas was nine per 1,000 as compared to 20 per 1,000 in urban areas (Bennett et al,1996).

"The salience of interpersonal conflict among adolescents and the negative consequences for adolescent victims and perpetrators identified in this study amplified our alarm at predictions that violence among adolescents will continue to worsen as poverty, racism, guns, alcohol and drug use, and family violence increase" (Clark, 1996).

A 1995 study reported that a number of cities acknowledged having a gang problem in the U.S. was 769. Another study in 1996 suggested that the U.S. has 16,000 gangs with 500,000 members committing over 600,000 crimes per year (Huff, 1996). "According to

Why do students participate in crimes and gang related activity? "Dramatic changes have occurred in the country, i.e., single-parent families, two working parents, latch-key kids, growing poverty, overcrowding, racial conflict, hopelessness in youth. These conditions have taken a serious toll on our neighborhoods" (Martinet, 1992). Another author suggests that disorder in our schools leads to violence. A school that allows students to wander and litter the halls and allows graffiti to be a common sight on the walls, invites students to test the limits of acceptable behavior. "For students who have little faith in the usefulness of the education they are to be getting, challenging the rules is part of the fun. If the process goes far enough, students come to think they can do anything. The school has become a jungle" (Toby, 1993).

A study completed in the mid-1990s through focus groups at rival middle schools found that gangs were named as the primary perpetrators of violence in the community. The same study suggests that gangs provide the motivation and companionship conducive to violence, and that gang violence begins in violent homes and communities (Clark and Marsh, 1996). Violent behaviors associated with gangs include possession of weapons, sexual harassment of peers and teachers, bullying, verbal intimidation, arson, drug trafficking and use, and graffiti. These acts of violence are increasing in the schools. Specific examples include drive-by shootings, suicides, house fires, accidents, attacks, domestic violence, medical deaths and illnesses, and bomb threats (Caldarella, 1996).

recent years, more literature has emerged addressing concerns of rural youth. The distinct similarities between urban and rural youth problems are still not being addressed. Most people believe that rural students have remained isolated from the urban problems, but this is not true. A poll conducted on a national level suggests that students worry about education, family issues, violence, the environment, sexual concerns, war and drug abuse. In the

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