Adolescents of the Chinese Culture
Adolescents of the Chinese Culture China has two hundred million young people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four and each year twenty million young people enter adolescence. This study focuses on the historical, educational, and family components of cultural influences, through researched stories, medical studies and surveys conducted that are related to the culture that shape the adolescents of China. Chinese adolescents of today are faced with the challenge of integrating traditional Chinese culture and the powerful life changing influences of western civilization. Traditional Culture The Chinese have a history of generations of stable customs. The Chinese believe in the innate goodness of human nature. ... ” (“Chinese Cultural”) Selecting a spouse was done through negotiation of family members and a matchmaker. Traditional Chinese culture also includes, a general lack of openness, conformity to what has gone before, parochialism and absence of flexibility. ... Traditional Chinese culture also includes religious beliefs such as, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. ... “The Chinese government is cautious about all religious activity.” (“Chinese Cultural”) This a very basic look at traditional Chinese culture, to demonstrate one side of the cultural influences of the Chinese adolescent. Adolescents of today have parents and grandparents who teach and instill traditional customs. At the same time adolescents are experiencing a new found independence and a democratic environment that promotes freedom and equality, is rich in innovation, becoming adaptable and inclusive due to the strong influence of western culture. (Lui) How Adolescents View Themselves According to a survey conducted by Bejing Normal University, China’s teenagers hold positive live values, with healthy attitudes toward life and their educational studies. ... The young adolescents are aware of the power of money, but it is not the ultimate goal for the majority. ... The problems that face students stem from swayed values advocated by traditional Chinese culture, market economic culture and Western culture. ... One other noted result of market economic and Western culture influence is that just about half of these students believe that “connections” would help achieve economic success, more than hard work. (“Chinese Teenagers”) Education for China’s Adolescence Adolescents in China today come from one child families. ... Adolescents that fall under the anxious category feel they never know enough and grow to invest as much as 60 percent of their income into further studies. Adolescents that fall under the pragmatic category are confident about life after graduation. ... Adolescents that fall under the traditional category inherit their parents’ traditional priorities. ... Adolescents embrace good health, tradition promotes the belief that if you are not in good health, nothing else matters. ... (Guihong) A Lack of Sex Education for Chinese Adolescents One area that education in China is still not fully willing to cover is sexual education. North Western University conducted a survey that found Chinese high school students are having sex. ... ”(“Sex Education Begins”) Most Chinese parents are not open in regards to sex education and may even scold children for asking questions of a sexual nature. ... As a result adolescents have turned to the internet for sex education. ... , from Bringham Young University, 284 Chinese mothers and 237 American mothers were given a self parenting questionnaire. ... It was discovered that some Chinese mothers parenting style includes encouragement of modesty, protection and shaming through love withdrawal. ... This is not to say that the Chinese did not display any of these characteristic, but the American mothers scored higher in this section of the questionnaire, as the Chinese mothers scored higher in the first example. This study also showed that the Chinese are more prone to control and criticize in an attempt to control behavior, especially when pressuring their children in academic pursuits. ... The authoritarian style of parenting appears to be prominent among Chinese mothers. ... ”(Santrock 159) Although the Chinese mothers style of parenting may seem harsh or insensitive, I think it comes from years and generations of stable customs. “Chinese adolescents are much less troubled by matters of obedience and respect for parents than their American counterparts.” (Jaffer) Extreme Pressures on Adolescents Chinese adolescents may not have the disciplinary problems that are so common in the United States but it is not without sacrifice.