Teens and Rural Education : Opportunities and Challenges

Lockers clang shut, bells ring, young people call to each other about the night's ballgame or the upcoming social event, halls are filled with jostling and pushing students.

These seem like experiences that are universal to all teens in North America.

However, while all schools have some common elements, education across North America varies as dramatically as the geography does.

Schools and what happens in those schools look very different in inner-city Chicago than they do in a small fishing village in northern Newfoundland, a remote town in the mountains of North Dakota, an island community along the coast of British Columbia, or in upstate New York.

A large portion of teenagers' lives, wherever they may live, is taken up with education.

Schools matter to rural youth; they shape a large portion of teens' lives.

Understanding what education is like in rural areas helps us understand the influences shaping this portion of North American young people.