Living in the Country

Living in the country has always been considered the healthiest and most relaxing choice one can make. The beauty of the land, open and friendly neighbours, genuine relationships, the tranquil pace of country life are some of the most attractive images that come to people?s minds when they feel tired of the pressures of city life. However, the dreams of moving away to a distant and quiet farm house are many times abandoned, especially by young people, when they come to think about the lack of opportunities that there are in the country. In fact, many young people feel they can not grow as professionals if they choose a quiet life style in the country, due to the poor quality of education and the lack of employment opportunities. The poor quality of education in the countryside can be perceived when one travels along rural roads and sees a few scattered primary schools, hidden among the mountains or in the woods. Children attend those schools only if it is not raining, and they travel long distances on horseback, or even on foot to reach the institution. Since the number of students is not enough to employ an English teacher, a Music teacher, a Sports teacher or a Computing teacher, those subjects are not taught, so children have no additional lessons. Finally, another factor that makes education reach very low quality standards is the fact that in many places there is no electricity, so it is imposible to imagine children from rural areas connected to the Internet, or having the possibility of watching a video or listening to music. To conclude, children from rural areas are not expected to develop their full potential due to the poor quality standard of education. Once young students finish primary school, and some priviledged adolescents can complete secundary education, they have to think about university or work. University is left only to the priviledged students who can afford to move to the city to continue their studies. The rest of the young population have to think about getting a job. And here comes another drawback of living in the country: as regards employment opportunities, there is a narrow range of jobs available for young people, and they are usually badly paid. Young people have to select among venturing into neighbouring towns, working at one of the relatively few jobs available nearby, or working on their own business. Since they have not been properly prepared at school, and employment opportunities are scarce, the joung rural population have relatively few opportunities to grow economically. Many people put forward many good reasons to live in the country and they are right. First, living in the country is safer than living in big cities, since there are less crimes. Second, it is also healthier because there is no pollution and no loud noises. Third, the pace of living in the country is quieter so sountry people’s lifespans are longer. Finally, many people argue that roads and means of communication have improved a lot in the last decades, so today living far away from the city is not so hard. However, for young people who are still trying to find their way to grow professionaly in order to gain economic stability, the city offers much more educational and economic opportunities than the stillness of the countryside.