Boomerang Kids. They return home. They are a generation who left their families and places where they grew up and now come back like a boomerang.
But what does this mean for the Valley? For decades, people lamented the brain drain, the talented and most promising left for education, opportunity and career. Now more and more seem to be returning. For our communities, what impact will their return make? Some have returned because it's cheap to live in the Valley. An apartment or house can be easily half the cost compared with the San Francisco Bay Area. Others save more by moving back with family, prompting some financial planners to introduce programs to keep parents on track with their retirement goals. (An insurance company posted this recent article: "Adult Children Moving Back Home: Don't Let Boomerang Kids Derail Your Goals"). So some may be returning as a modern type of economic refugee. But do they want to be here? However, while many are returning, they are not necessarily moving back home to live with family. I incorrectly had an image of a "loser guy" still living with his parents -- an adult son who becomes a slob, sitting at home, playing video games all day, unmotivated to look for a job. Recent statistics prove otherwise. Young males living with their parents peaked in the late 1990s and have been constant since 2002. (It's difficult to convince a parent trying to cope with a boomerang kid that this is temporary and not widespread). As members of a new generation return to the Valley, I hope they want to make this region a better place. They are coming back not as failures, but rather because they've chosen to. It may not be solely about personal economics, but about something else. In addition, literally another generation is also trickling back. These boomerangs include those who return to take care of parents or siblings. They're older, retired or semi-retired and bring with them the asset of time. What difference will they make? Do boomerangs become change agents? Are they pioneers or early innovators, bringing fresh ideas and perspectives along with the energy and will to create something different? Will they become impatient with many in the Valley who do not support change? And how do they respond to such roadblocks? Will they welcome resistance? Boomerangs are privileged. They had the resources to leave. Often educated and armed with job skills and experience, they bring valuable human capital to our Valley. They may see their return as part of a personal journey back to family. I hope they recognize the social meaning and context of their homecoming. With boomerangs, the Valley gains invaluable social capital: the new and creative webs of relationships that can empower a community. They may bring the best of both worlds -- native competency, knowing how things have been done here in the past, coupled with new outside networks of relationships. In my own world of farming, some of the most innovative thinking came from the outside, such as rethinking the meaning of good food and how organics fits into the environment and the marketplace. Social capital translates into increased productivity not only in terms of economics but also cultural and community life. Do new thinkers help us redefine downtown Fresno or how art fits into small towns? As the Latino population increases in California, can a new generation of boomerangs also become the new influencers and decision makers in our public-policy arena?Boomerangs can bring a welcome way of thinking to the Valley. They seek a different definition of success, not necessarily based on material wealth, but rather wanting to break old traditions and hierarchies. They think young and simply don't accept the status quo. A few bring false hope: They come back thinking they're making a change, yet lack intellectual analysis. Some boomerangs think they're better than the rest of us because they've lived someplace else. But crying about how much nicer someplace else is lacks a depth of thinking and reflection. Whining is not the same as critical thinking. I wonder if some boomerangs have actually changed or were affected by their time away? Don't many slip into old identities when they return? The Valley has a type of silence of conformity, pressures to adapt, maintain traditions and restrain change. Thus, if you don't fit elsewhere, you come back not as change agents but conform agents. There's a culture of push-back here, if you are not happy about our Valley, it's your fault. Go live someplace else. Then there's another group I call repressed boomerangs. They wanted to leave but never left, possibly due to economics or family ties or fear. And later, they regret those who kept them captive.I've seen this especially true in families, often ethnic families and their daughters. These children grow up and never had the choice of coming home. Some remain unhappy and unsatisfied, limited in their vision of hope, succumbing to a strangled destiny. I believe in allowing freedom -- and the simple philosophy that if you never let them go, they can't come back. By allowing them to leave, you grant them the choice of coming back home. Those who do will want to be here. Boomerangs return to the Valley, some driven by the fact it's cheap to live here and there's nothing wrong with that. My hope is that they go beyond thinking about the individual, beyond feeling fine about themselves simply because they can afford it here. A Valley of individuals will never address, let alone solve the bigger issues of air quality, poverty, inequality in education, job creation, racism and declining infrastructure.Decades ago, I left this Valley and came back. Then, I thought about the choice: Is it better to be a little fish in a big pond or a big fish in a little pond? Later, I discovered both ponds had their advantages and challenges and being a big fish was usually just a state of mind. I could be "little" in my thinking anywhere or over-inflated no matter where I lived and worked. I was a boomerang back when few Valley kids contemplated returning home. The Valley has evolved with new forces pushing boomerangs back home. These winds of change are refreshing and good. I hope we can look back and identify how we've grown by welcoming them back home. And do we have a choice?