Comparing Rural Adolescents from Farm and Nonfarm Families [electronic resource] / Kimberly Esterman and Dalva Hedlund.
This paper examines the unique characteristics of rural adolescents raised on farms. As part of a longitudinal study on rural youth development, semistructured interviews were conducted each year for 4 consecutive years with 87 adolescents from 4 rural high schools in upstate New York. This study fo...
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
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1994.
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| Summary: | This paper examines the unique characteristics of rural adolescents raised on farms. As part of a longitudinal study on rural youth development, semistructured interviews were conducted each year for 4 consecutive years with 87 adolescents from 4 rural high schools in upstate New York. This study focused on data from the 19 adolescents who resided on farms and a matched sample of nonfarm adolescents. The interviews explored student perceptions of community, school, family, social life, and self. Farm raised adolescents were particularly close to their families and somewhat isolated from peers and peer-related activities. They were less likely than their nonfarm counterparts to plan on pursuing a 4-year college degree, and they were very unlikely to plan on remaining on the farm. Adolescent farm residents seemed to share a unique value system, strong work ethic, and strong self-identity as farmers. Most felt that this was positive, resulting in closeness with nature and animals and a sense of satisfaction and responsibility from the difficult work schedule and varied challenges involved in farming. Perceived limitations were an inability to relate to nonfarming peers, lack of free time, and difficulty pursuing outside interests. Except for closeness to nature, these characteristics were more pronounced among males in the farm sample than in females. (SV) |
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| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED384483. Sponsoring Agency: Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. Contract Number: 137410. ERIC Note: Paper presented at the Research Forum of the National Rural Education Association (Tuscaloosa, AL, October 15, 1994). |
| Physical Description: | 24 p. |