Features of urban and rural life. The influence of urban and rural lifestyles on the health of schoolchildren

The social environment has a huge impact on teenagers. However, the social environment includes not only such components as school, family, peers, but also the place of residence - in the city or in the countryside. Urban and rural residents have significant differences in lifestyle and value orientations. Therefore, we will characterize rural and urban settlements and characterize the features of the way of life of their residents.

Rural settlements. The peculiarities of the rural way of life are connected with the peculiarities of the life of the inhabitants: the subordination of labor to the rhythms and cycles of the year; more difficult working conditions than usual in the city; low opportunities for labor mobility of residents; the great unity of work and life, the immutability and labor intensity of labor in household and subsidiary plots; The range of free time activities is quite limited. Elements of the traditional neighborhood community have been preserved in the way of life of rural settlements. They have a fairly stable composition of residents, their socio-professional and cultural differentiation is weak, and close family and neighborly ties are typical.

In general, modern villages and hamlets retain many traditional features of the rural way of life; the rhythm is measured, unhurried, and preserves elements of natural conformity. Time is not always considered by rural residents as quickly passing, as a social value.

The village is characterized by “openness” of communication. The absence of large social and cultural differences between residents, the small number of real and possible contacts make the villagers’ communication quite close and covering all aspects of life. Friendship and friendship are poorly differentiated, and therefore the emotional depth and intensity of communication with different partners rarely have serious differences. The smaller the village, the more inclusive the communication of its inhabitants.

Circumstances such as the presence or absence of a school, club, post office, medical center, as well as proximity to the city, large or small, and the presence of good roads and transport routes are also important.

The rural type of settlement influences the socialization of children, adolescents, and young men almost syncretically (undifferentiated), that is, it is practically impossible to track their influence in the process of spontaneous, relatively guided and relatively socially controlled socialization.

In rural settlements, social control of human behavior is very strong. The content of social control in many rural settlements is determined by a specific socio-psychological atmosphere. Today it is characterized by the alienation of residents from the sense of owner of the land on which they live, drunkenness and alcoholism.

A rural school, due to its close integration into rural life, influences the education of younger generations much less than an urban school.

A rural family (in which children identify themselves with their parents to a much greater extent than in an urban family) influences the socialization of its members mainly in the same direction as the village as a microsociety, often regardless of the socio-professional status and educational level of the parents.

The constantly growing influence of the city on the village plays a special role in the socialization of rural residents. It produces a certain reorientation of life values ​​between real ones, accessible in rural conditions, and those that are characteristic of the city and can only be a standard, a dream for a rural resident.

Urban settlements. The city is characterized by: the concentration of a large number of residents and high population density in a limited area; a high degree of diversity of human activity (both in labor and non-productive spheres); differentiated socio-professional and often ethnic structures of the population.

The city has a number of characteristics that create special conditions for the socialization of its residents, especially the younger generations.

A modern city is objectively the center of culture: material (architecture, industry, transport, monuments of material culture), spiritual (education of residents, cultural institutions, educational institutions, monuments of spiritual culture, etc.). Thanks to this, as well as the number and diversity of layers and groups of the population, the city is a center of information potentially available to its residents.

At the same time, the city is a center of criminogenic factors, criminal structures and groups, as well as all types of deviant behavior. The city has a large number of dysfunctional families with criminal potential; there is a more or less large number of users of narcotic and toxic drugs (especially among young people); there are informal groups and associations with an antisocial orientation; the passion for gambling is widespread, there is a more or less massive involvement of various groups of residents in small-scale commerce, actually or potentially criminalized, there are stable criminal groups that involve youth and teenagers in their composition and sphere of influence.

The city is also characterized by a historically established urban lifestyle, which includes the following main features:

· the predominance of anonymous, business, short-term, partial and superficial contacts in interpersonal communication, but at the same time a high degree of selectivity in emotional attachments;

· low importance of territorial communities of residents, mostly underdeveloped, selective and, as a rule, functionally determined neighborly connections (cooperation of families with small children or old people to look after them, “car” connections, etc.);

· the high subjective and emotional significance of the family for its members, but at the same time the prevalence of intense extra-family communication;

· diversity of lifestyles, cultural stereotypes, value orientations;

· instability of the social status of a city dweller, greater social mobility;

· weak control of human behavior and the significant role of self-control due to the presence of various social connections and anonymity.

The characteristics mentioned above make the city a powerful factor in human socialization, because they create conditions for children, adolescents, and young men to make choices and demonstrate mobility.

The city creates mobility for its residents in various aspects of their life. The most basic of them is territorial mobility.

Firstly, with age, a person’s perceived, cognizable and mastered living space expands. This expansion goes from the yard of preschoolers across the street, the neighborhood of primary schoolchildren, the neighborhood of teenagers to other parts of the city and even the city as a whole in youth.

Secondly, with age, an orientation towards spending part of the time in public places appears, the intensity of which, as a rule, reaches its peak in youth, and then, as a rule, also declines.

Thirdly, in adolescence or adolescence, many city residents develop subjectively significant and intimately significant areas and places with which the most important areas of life are associated, and later - memories.

Fourthly, city residents have the potential to change their place of residence within the city.

For the socialization of a city dweller, the main significance is that the city creates conditions for social mobility, both horizontal (changes in the type of occupations and membership groups within one social stratum) and vertical (transitions from one social stratum to another - up or down the social ladder ).

Depending on the extent to which adolescents realize opportunities for mobility, they are more or less prepared to use new forms and methods of activity, cognition, skillful and careful in communication, prepared for surprises in everyday contacts, and oriented in the surrounding reality; prone to risks and non-standard responses to life's challenges. All this largely determines the readiness, preparedness and desire of children and adolescents to make a choice.

Any person makes numerous choices throughout his life, showing his subjectivity and subjectivity, more or less consciously assessing the alternatives available to him, and self-determining in relation to them.

The city as the center of culture, as well as prosocial, asocial and antisocial phenomena, the urban lifestyle in general provides each of its residents with a huge range of very different alternatives. This creates potential opportunities for individual choice in various spheres of life. Let us note only a few of them, the most significant for the socialization of younger generations.

Firstly, the city provides a huge number of alternatives, being a kind of “node” of information and an information field. The carriers of information are architecture, city planning, transport, advertising, the flow of people, and individuals.

Secondly, in the city a person interacts and communicates with a large number of real partners, and also has the opportunity to look for interaction, buddies, friends, loved ones among an even larger number of potential partners. In general, the city provides a wide choice of social circles and groups.

Thirdly, interactions and relationships are significantly differentiated in the city. Here, the approved and disapproved behavior of adults and young people in general differs significantly. Communication between adults and younger ones tends to become less intense and open as children grow older.

Communication with peers has obvious age-related characteristics. It usually takes place in groups that arise in the classroom or in the yard. However, the older a child gets, the more often he can look for and find partners outside the classroom, school, and yard.

Fourthly, the socio-cultural differentiation of the urban population, on the one hand, and, on the other, the rather close territorial proximity of the strata, lead to the fact that a city resident not only sees and knows different lifestyles and value aspirations, but also has the opportunity to “try on” them on yourself.

In general, the role of the city in the socialization of children, adolescents, and young men is determined by the fact that it provides each city dweller with potentially wide opportunities to choose social circles, value systems, lifestyles, and, consequently, opportunities for self-realization and self-affirmation.

Thus, based on all of the above, we can present the conclusion in the form of a table in which we briefly outline the main differences in the lifestyle of urban and rural residents.

Table. Comparative characteristics of lifestyle in urban and rural settlements

Village	City
Low population density in a limited area. The rhythm of life is measured and unhurried.	The concentration of a large number of inhabitants and high population density in a limited area. Characterized by a fast pace of life.
Openness of communication, impossibility of maintaining the principle of “confidentiality” in communication (everyone knows about each other).	The predominance of anonymous, business, short-term, partial and superficial contacts in interpersonal communication, but at the same time a high degree of selectivity in emotional attachments
Low degree of diversity of human activity. Low opportunities for labor mobility. Poor development of the system of leisure institutions (clubs, sections).	High degree of diversity of human activity (both in labor and non-productive spheres)
The ways of the traditional rural community are preserved.	Little importance of territorial communities of residents, mostly underdeveloped, selective and, as a rule, functionally determined neighborly connections (cooperation of families with small children or old people to look after them, “car” connections, etc.)
Lifestyles, cultural stereotypes and value orientations remain the same for a long time without changing.	Diversity of lifestyles, cultural stereotypes, value orientations
Social status is quite stable, low social mobility.	Unstable social status of a city dweller, greater social mobility
High control of human behavior and the role of self-control is insignificant.	Weak control of human behavior and the significant role of self-control due to the presence of various social connections and anonymity
A rural school, due to its close integration into rural life, influences the education of younger generations much less than an urban one.	School has a significant impact on children.
Alternatives for living arrangements are predictable and not very diverse.	The city provides a huge number of alternatives for living arrangements, being a kind of “node” of information and information field
Possibility of interaction with a limited circle of individuals and groups (relatives, friends, acquaintances of a particular settlement).	The ability to interact with a large and diverse range of individuals and groups (not only relatives, friends and acquaintances, but famous people, etc.).
The lifestyles and value aspirations of most rural residents are very similar. It is impossible to try on other lifestyles (based on interests, informal, etc.) due to the condemnation of them.	A city dweller not only sees and knows different life styles and value aspirations, but also has the opportunity to “try on” them for himself
The village provides a narrow range of choice of communication, value systems, and does not allow you to fully develop your interests and abilities.	The city provides every citizen with potentially wide opportunities to choose social circles, value systems, lifestyles, and, consequently, opportunities for self-realization and self-affirmation.

Therefore, we can say that the city has greater potential for human development and self-realization than the village.

Features of the rural way of life are associated with the characteristics of the work and life of the inhabitants: the subordination of labor to the rhythms and cycles of the year; more difficult working conditions than usual in the city; low opportunities for labor mobility of residents; the great unity of work and everyday life, the immutability and labor intensity of work in households and subsidiary plots (thus, work on personal plots, in the garden, in the vegetable garden takes up literally half the life of villagers - on average 181 days a year); The range of free time activities is quite limited. Elements of the traditional neighborhood community have been preserved in the way of life of rural settlements. They have a fairly stable composition of residents, their socio-professional and cultural differentiation is weak, and close family and neighborly ties are typical.

In general, modern villages and villages retain many traditional features of the rural way of life. The rhythm is measured, unhurried, and retains elements of natural conformity. Time is not always considered by rural residents as quickly passing, as a social value.

The village is characterized by “openness” of communication. The absence of large social and cultural differences between residents, the small number of real and possible contacts make the villagers’ communication quite close and covering all aspects of life. Rural lifestyle and socialization. Villages as a type of settlement influence the socialization of children, adolescents, and young men almost syncretically (undifferentiated), i.e. It is practically impossible to track their influence in the process of spontaneous, relatively guided and relatively socially controlled socialization.

This is largely due to the fact that in rural settlements social control of human behavior is very strong. Since there are few inhabitants, the connections between them are quite close, everyone knows everyone and about everyone, the anonymous existence of a person is practically impossible, every episode of his life can become an object for evaluation by those around him.

The content of social control in many rural settlements is determined by a specific socio-psychological atmosphere. Today it is characterized by the alienation of residents from the sense of master of the land on which they live, drunkenness and alcoholism. According to the researcher of modern village V.G. Vinogradsky, the bizarre economic life of many villages gives rise to a combination of conscience and dishonesty, “dashing theft” and “gloomy frugality and even miserliness,” “total double-mindedness.”

All this leads to the fact that even the school, due to its close integration into rural life, influences the education of the younger generations much less than the urban one. And this despite the fact that it has greater opportunities to influence the lives of its students than a city school.

City and urban lifestyle. A city is a type of settlement characterized by: the concentration of a large number of residents and high population density in a limited area; a high degree of diversity of human activity (both in labor and non-productive spheres); differentiated socio-professional and often ethnic structures of the population.

Cities differ from each other in a number of ways.

By size: small (up to 50 thousand inhabitants), medium (up to 350-400 thousand), large (up to 1 million), giants (over 1 million).

By predominant functions: industrial (Cherepovets, Rubtsovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur); administrative and industrial (Kostroma, Volgograd); administrative, cultural and industrial (Samara, Novosibirsk); ports with developed industry and cultural and administrative spheres (Arkhangelsk, Vladivostok) and specialized (Vanino, Nakhodka); resort (Kislovodsk, Sochi); “science cities” (Obninsk, Sarov).

By regional affiliation: Arkhangelsk in the North-West. Orel in the Center, Kemerovo in Siberia.

By duration of existence: ancient (over 500 years old) - Novgorod the Great, Veliky Ustyug; old - Voronezh, Elabuga; new (less than 100 years) - Nizhnekamsk, Norilsk, Magnitogorsk.

By composition of residents(by the ratio of gender, age, socio-professional and ethnic groups of the population): “young” (Urengoy), “old” (Myshkin); socially differentiated to a large extent (Kursk) and weakly differentiated (Pushchino); monoethnic (Mtsensk), with two or three predominant ethnic groups (Kazan, Ufa), multiethnic (Moscow, Rostov-on-Don).

By stability of the population - the ratio of indigenous urban residents and migrants from rural settlements, other cities and regions.

A city (medium, large, giant) has a number of characteristics that create specific conditions for the socialization of its residents, especially younger generations.

Modern city objectively - center of culture: material (architecture, industry, transport, monuments of material culture), spiritual (education of residents, cultural institutions, educational institutions, monuments of spiritual culture, etc.). Thanks to this, as well as the number and diversity of layers and groups of the population, the city is a center of information potentially available to its residents.

In the same time the city is a center of crime factors, criminal structures and groups, as well as all types of deviant behavior. The city is also characterized by its historical urban lifestyle, which includes the following main features (they have certain specifics depending on certain parameters of a particular city):

the predominance of anonymous, business, short-term, partial and superficial contacts in interpersonal communication, but at the same time a high degree of selectivity in emotional attachments;

the small importance of territorial communities of residents, mostly underdeveloped, selective and, as a rule, functionally determined neighborly connections (cooperation of families with small children or old people to look after them, “car” connections, etc.);

the high subjective and emotional significance of the family for its members, but at the same time the prevalence of intense extra-family communication;

diversity of lifestyles, cultural stereotypes, value orientations;

instability of the social status of a city dweller, greater social mobility;

weak social control of human behavior and the significant role of self-control due to the presence of various social connections and anonymity.

Citizen mobility.Mobility in this case it is understood as human reaction to the variety of stimuli that the city contains, such as readiness(but not necessarily as preparedness and desire) to changes in your life.

The city creates conditions for the mobility of its residents in various aspects of their life.

The most basic of them is territorial mobility.

For the socialization of a city dweller, the main importance is that the city creates conditions for social mobility, both horizontal (changes in types of occupations and membership groups within one social stratum) and vertical (transitions from one social stratum to another - up or down the social ladder).

In general, the role of the city in the socialization of children, adolescents, and young men is determined by the fact that it provides every city dweller with potentially wide opportunities to choose social circles, value systems, lifestyles, and, consequently, opportunities for self-realization and self-affirmation.

Another thing is that depending on the typological characteristics of the city, the area in which a growing person lives, his socio-cultural, gender, age and individual characteristics, the way he uses the opportunities provided by the city differs significantly.

Features of a small city. A small town, significantly different from large cities, creates specific conditions for the socialization of its residents, which is why it is singled out for special consideration.

Main signs of a small town as a factor of socialization you can count the number of inhabitants(up to 50 thousand); the presence of a historical past, exceeding the hundred-year minimum; employment of the population in non-agricultural areas; specific socio-psychological climate.

In a small town, the population is professionally differentiated, which is due to the presence of several organizations of different types - industrial, transport, communications, educational, cultural, recreational, medical, administrative, trade, etc.

The socio-psychological climate has a number of features in comparison with larger cities, on the one hand, and with the countryside, on the other.

Modern small towns retain much of their way of life from the traditional neighborhood community, in which everyone knows everyone about everyone, in which anonymity is practically impossible. Residents of a small town usually “stick to strong family and neighboring clans, in the evenings and on weekends they dig in their plots or garden plots, celebrate weddings and see them off to the army in the village style” (A.I. Prigozhin).

Lifestyle, cultural stereotypes, and value orientations bear the imprint of the rural way of life. “Information spreads instantly. Unity of opinions is almost always ensured. They provide both support and help to each other, as well as tolerance for mistakes and miscalculations... And one more important feature: stability, stability, immutability are valued here much higher than success, the tendency to inertia is stronger than to development... Divorces are rare , families have many children, they rarely leave the city” (A.I. Prigozhin).

A settlement is a type of settlement specific to Russia (as well as a number of republics of the former USSR). A village is an absolutely or relatively territorially limited concentrated form of settlement of people: a) emancipated from a rural way of life; b) not rooted in the urban lifestyle; c) deprived of the support of historical traditions characteristic of residents of a small town.

This general definition covers different types of settlements:

workers - at mining or processing enterprises, as well as large railway stations;

resettlement, to which village residents were “brought” from flood zones during the construction of hydroelectric power stations and reservoirs, as well as territories of closed zones that were created;

internally displaced persons and refugees from former republics, “hot spots” and environmentally polluted areas;

suburban villages, whose residents primarily work in the city;

settlements inside large cities, in which workers of one plant live or migrants of the first generations (who were called limit workers) are concentrated.

Despite the typological diversity and, accordingly, differences, villages, as a rule, have much in common in their lifestyle and socio-psychological atmosphere, which allows us to consider them as a specific factor in human socialization.

In a village, a person finds himself at a crossroads between the traditional life characteristic of a village or small town, and the urban way of life itself. As a rule, he assimilates a certain fusion of traditional and urban norms created in such villages, which is not similar to either one or the other. This peculiar fusion should hardly be considered a transition from rural to urban norms. Rather, it can be seen as a very special way of life.

The two poles of attraction - the city and the village, determining the median character of the village way of life, dictate the dominant behavior of the residents. What is most favored here is the averageness of behavior, the averageness of lifestyle, the averageness of human characters.

The norms of life in the villages have their own characteristics. Here, than in the village, there is even greater openness in the life of every person, every family, and at the same time a rather strict isolation of everyone, who does not consider it necessary to “look around” at the opinions of others when it comes to their own well-being.

how the life of villagers differed from the life of city dwellers and received the best answer

Answer from Unknown[guru]
The main differences between the rural way of life and the urban way of life are well known: less developed and technically equipped labor, less variety of jobs and professions, and, as a rule, more difficult working conditions. Rural settlements are characterized by greater integration of work and life. Here the rhythm of life is lower, the forms of communication are simpler. The specificity of agricultural production is such that it requires uniform settlement in order to develop agricultural lands. As a result of ill-conceived settlement policies, hundreds of thousands of villages disappeared, millions of hectares of meadows, pastures, and arable land fell out of production... .

Answer from 2 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: how was the life of rural residents different from the life of city residents?

Answer from Tatyana Tanya[newbie]
City dwellers and rural dwellers have different lives; rural dwellers seem to live in the countryside and city dwellers live in cities. In the city there can be both rich and poor, but in the villages the people living in the countryside are poor, but they grow a lot of food and sell it. But city dwellers do not grow food, they buy this food with their own money. Rural people do everything with their own hands, and city dwellers buy it from other people who have created factories. In rural areas, in the summer you can go to the river very well, and in the city, city dwellers can also swim, only the noise of cars disturbs you, but rural ones do not have cars, but only in rare cases and in the atmosphere you can hear the sound of nature, like grasshoppers singing with birds, frogs croaking. The villagers were engaged in agriculture, and the townspeople were engaged in trade and crafts.

Answer from Tanya - Manya[guru]
everyone knows about everyone in the village,
and of course it’s hard work getting up early..

Answer from Antonina Andreeva[guru]
Different civilization.

Answer from Sergei Nanezov[active]
City dwellers and rural dwellers have different lives; rural dwellers seem to live in the countryside and city dwellers live in cities. In the city there can be both rich and poor, but in the villages the people living in the countryside are poor, but they grow a lot of food and sell it. But city dwellers do not grow food, they buy this food with their own money. Rural people do everything with their own hands, and city dwellers buy it from other people who have created factories. In rural areas, in the summer you can go to the river very well, and in the city, city dwellers can also swim, only the noise of cars disturbs you, but rural ones do not have cars, but only in rare cases and in the atmosphere you can hear the sound of nature, like grasshoppers singing with birds, frogs croaking. The villagers were engaged in agriculture, and the townspeople were engaged in trade and crafts.aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Answer from Javokhir Khadykhojaev[newbie]
The main differences between the rural way of life and the urban way of life are well known: less developed and technically equipped labor, less variety of jobs and professions, and, as a rule, more difficult working conditions. Rural settlements are characterized by greater integration of work and life. Here the rhythm of life is lower, the forms of communication are simpler. The specificity of agricultural production is such that it requires uniform settlement in order to develop agricultural lands. As a result of ill-conceived settlement policies, hundreds of thousands of villages disappeared, millions of hectares of meadows, pastures, and arable lands fell out of production...
The basis that organizes the life of the urban population is the production of goods and services. Economic, cultural and information potential of society in large urban centers, achievements of material and spiritual activity. At the same time, it leads to the emergence of serious contradictions - uneven development of central and peripheral cities, environmental pollution, and an increase in the number of stresses. .

I am a romantic person, so when I mention rural life, bright pastoral pictures bloom in my imagination: a beautiful house, a garden, a vegetable garden, fields, lawns, birds, goats...

But in reality, everything is not so rosy. Rural life has undeniable advantages, but in the village the standard of living is often lower than in the city. This is especially true for Russia with its brightest contrast between village and city.

Urban lifestyle

Familiar and familiar to many, judging by the size of the urban population.

City makes a lot of things easily accessible, provides huge selection regarding:

• study and work;
• cultural and entertainment events;
• communication;
• medicine.

Comfort is also high at the everyday level. Electricity, gas, and running water are available in every apartment. But You have to pay dearly for comfort.

Stress- a constant companion of a city dweller.

The city air is full of dust and smog. Transport is often overcrowded and traffic jams are common. Always noisy, it is often difficult to feel privacy even in your own apartment if you do not take care of sound insulation.

Country life

Briefly about the obvious the advantages of living in a village:

• measured lifestyle;
• proximity to nature;
• less noise pollution;
• better state of the environment;
• there is an opportunity to engage in agriculture.

However, it will not be without hassle and large financial investments in the maintenance and repair of a private house.

Difficult to find in the village work, so you often have to work in the city and spend many hours on the road. To obtain the services of highly specialized specialists, you often still have to travel to the city.

Choice cultural and entertainment events, as a rule, small. The population is small, and sometimes it is difficult to form a social circle and find like-minded people.

Different people, different lives

Only someone is cute rural life, and the prospect of waking up every morning in a house like an anthill in the middle of a metropolis is terrifying.

Close to someone city with its speed, brightness and capabilities. For others, a change of environment is familiar: in the summer they go to nature, and spend the winter in a city apartment.

Difference in standard of living is often erased due to the characteristics of a particular city/village and a person’s social status.

Unfortunately, many of us don't have much choice when it comes to where we live. Moving from city to village, as well as vice versa, is always a difficult thing.