Today I’m going to change the mood a little bit. You could see this as an opinion piece as I never went to elementary school in the city. Who knows, there could be a million reasons why going to an inner city school is the best thing ever.
But I don’t know that.
I am just a simple country kid who wants to tell you about the top 5 reasons why going to a rural school was, and is great!
These girls agree
These are specific to living in a small North American town, so I apologize now to all those that grew up on a farm, or in extreme isolation. You may not agree with this whole article.
Let’s start the list:
5. More Space
Rural schools generally have larger yards for the kids to run around, without the added effect of being surrounded by high traffic, or densely populated areas. Â If our ball went over the fence, we did not have to worry about it causing a traffic pile-up.
4. An Increased Amount of Snow Days
Living in a northern area subjected me to harsh winters, but a benefit to this was the infamous “Snow Day.” Being in a rural area means having less snow plows clearing the roads during snowstorms, which in turn increases the likelihood that you will be able to stay home and watch the Price is Right. Other northerners will be able to relate to this, but for our southern friends, a ‘snow day’ was when you got to stay home from school because you literally could not get to the school. Â It goes without saying, if you do indeed reside in the South, this benefit wouldn’t really apply to you anyway.
3. Safe Walks to School
I was one of the lucky ones, living close enough to my elementary school to walk or ride my bike . It was great. Fresh air, chirping birds, a serious lack of traffic anywhere; I loved my walks to school in the morning. Less people means less traffic, less noise and less pollution. High school changed everything for me though. I had to bus for over an hour to the next town over, but I’m not talking about that right now.
2. Less Violence
Statistics show that rural schools have lower instances of violence than urban schools. Violence isn’t non-existent, and it absolutely can vary depending on where you are located geographically, but more often than not, rural schools are safer in this regard. This benefitted me greatly, because I was a small, skinny child.
1. Small class sizes
I knew everyone at my school. This is not something you could say if you went to school in the city where school populations can exceed 2000 people. You have a greater sense of community in a small school. I remember my elementary school having about 200 kids, which translated to about 20 person class sizes. Lower class sizes means each student can have a greater amount of one on one time with the teacher. Generally this is the case for all rural schools, as they may draw from a larger area, but the areas they draw from are sparsely populated.
Of course I could also do a top 5 list of why going to a rural school can be awful:
5. Pitiful internet connection (hopefully things have improved in the last 10 years!)
4. Nowhere to go during your spare period in high school
3. Extremely long bus rides if your school is in another town
2. Terrible, rusty tasting well water
And the number one reason:
1. Your mean teacher is also your neighbor
I think the positives more than outweigh the negatives.
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