Young West Virginia: Will you stay, or will you go?

Students walk around West Virginia University's Downtown Campus on Aug. 17, 2023. (Aidan Cornue | West Virginia Watch)

I’m writing this for the young generations of West Virginians — the ones in that summer lull between grades, before college, or maybe your first job. You’re fresh from graduation season, listening to inspiring commencement speeches reflecting on where you’ve been and where you’re going.

And I wonder, in those moments, if you’re planning to stay in West Virginia or relocate as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

Honestly, it’s hard to tell what you think. Opinions flow so freely these days, but you remain overlooked and unheard.

I start every morning reading local news, and there are always stories affecting you — from our beleaguered child welfare and foster care systems to schools laying off staff to work permits for 14 — and 15-year-olds and the implementation of the Campus Self-Defense Act — but I never hear anything from you about all this stuff.

Maybe we’re not asking, or maybe you have nothing to say.

There’s a quote from George Orwell’s 1949 novel, “1984,” that reads, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

There are so many talking voices telling West Virginia’s story — older generations with a firm grip on our narrative who have no experience walking in your shoes and can’t speak from your perspective.

And yet, our state’s future is inevitably yours, whether you want it or not.

Currently, around 1.7 million people live here. We’re one of only three states to experience a population decrease since 2010 and the state with the largest population percentage loss at 3.2%.

West Virginia is the only state with fewer residents now than it had 70 years ago.

Over the past five years, West Virginia’s public school enrollment has dropped by nearly 10%.

No matter how anyone spins it, the reality is that your classmates and their families have been relocating away from our state since before you were born, and they’re continuing to leave.

Two big reasons why they’re leaving are the economy and our schools. According to the 2024 Kids Count Databook , West Virginia ranks 48 th in education and 47 th in economic well-being.

West Virginia has the lowest labor force participation rate in the nation, at 55%. We’re also one of the poorest states in the country, making it difficult for businesses and families to thrive.

As our population shrinks, so does the funding for our public schools.

West Virginia has the largest share of students who attend school in high-poverty districts, yet resources dwindle. COVID-19 funding kept things going, but now, county school systems across the state are laying off staff.

We have higher expectations from your schools and disproportionate resource allocation to address them. There is a never-ending public discourse about what schools can and should be doing.

West Virginians are also some of the unhealthiest Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , West Virginia tops the list of states with the least healthy populations while ranking worst in lifestyle habits and health outlook.

We’ve experienced a deterioration in life expectancy. West Virginia comes in second for the lowest life expectancy, where people live on average to the age of 74.5. That’s the same life expectancy the government reported for Americans in 1982 .

And then there are the diseases of despair — a term used to describe three types of health conditions, notably drug and/or alcohol overdose, suicide and alcoholic liver disease.

A report from the Appalachian Regional Commission found that diseases of despair mortality dramatically surged in Appalachia in 2020. When it came to the individual diseases of despair mortality rates, the region’s overdose rate was 50% higher, the suicide rate was 25% higher, and the liver disease/cirrhosis rate was 16% higher in Appalachia than in the rest of the country.

West Virginia continues to lead the nation in overdoses. Just last year, there were 1,075 reported emergency room visits related to overdoses of people ages 0-19 in West Virginia.

And all of this, young West Virginia, is your birthright. Amidst these beautiful hills, so full of life in these summer months, are historic challenges so deeply rooted that we can’t pull them out. They don’t even budge.

Because of this, some of you will inevitably want to leave West Virginia for better opportunities. I completely understand. Maybe you’d want to stay if we had engaged with you more or gotten you involved in your communities. But for whatever reason, we older generations prefer to treat the younger ones as if you should be seen and not heard.

For those of you who plan to stay and plant your roots here, know that there’s a big, welcoming community of West Virginians who have also stayed and who will make a space for you.

They recognize that Appalachian fatalism, a resignation to the powers that control and exploit our state, is real but not insurmountable. Complacency and acceptance have stagnated growth and prosperity, but we still have the capacity to identify and fix our problems.

But to create meaningful change, they need you to step out of the shadows. Stop being so quiet, waiting for someone to ask you for your thoughts or ideas. Stand up, show up, and dig in.

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The post Young West Virginia: Will you stay, or will you go? appeared first on West Virginia Watch .