What's with all the anxiety in today's youth?

[Tewder]

Affluent Asian Canadians are still more likely to stay with their families until an older age than Anglo Canadians, though.

Even today? The 'helicopter parent'/'sandwich generation' phenomenons among whites are pretty pervasive these days.

 

[RemyFloor]

Society asks to much of the young mind these days. To much stress is put on them

 

[Tewder]

In some ways I would agree. It is a fast paced world due to technology. Everybody's multi-tasking. Attention spans are suffering. It's a new era and maybe we just haven't figured out how to negotiate it yet, we haven't caught up. Regardless, a sense of balance seems to be becoming ever more and more important.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Affluent Asian Canadians are still more likely to stay with their families until an older age than Anglo Canadians, though.

What does Asian Canadian mean? I sometimes think Torontonians mean people from China-Korea-Japan when they say Asian. In the UK they use the Fordian term Oriental still, reserving Asian for those from the Indian-subcontinent.

 

[Tewder]

They are far less politically correct in the UK. I don't think 'oriental' is acceptable in Canada. You know, that would imply a euro-centric point of reference. We are not allowed that.

Interesting though, is 'asia' really 'east' of us or is it 'west' of us?? We live on a globe, it all feels a little arbitrary.

 

[prosperegal]

They are far less politically correct in the UK. I don't think 'oriental' is acceptable in Canada. You know, that would imply a euro-centric point of reference. We are not allowed that.

Interesting though, is 'asia' really 'east' of us or is it 'west' of us?? We live on a globe, it all feels a little arbitrary.

It's east if you take the long route, west for short - LOL! In Canada and the US (and I think, Australia, too), "oriental" is reserved for rugs.

 

[Tewder]

... but did those rugs come from the east or the west

We have no issue with southern or northern reference points but use 'oriental' vs occidental and we offend. Go figure.

 

[wild goose chase]

What does Asian Canadian mean? I sometimes think Torontonians mean people from China-Korea-Japan when they say Asian. In the UK they use the Fordian term Oriental still, reserving Asian for those from the Indian-subcontinent.

The original point that many Asian Canadians might stay with their parents later than "Anglo" Canadians could make sense whether you're talking about either part of Asia or perhaps across many Asian groups as a whole.

Affluent Asian Canadians are still more likely to stay with their families until an older age than Anglo Canadians, though.

I don't know specifically if East Asian (Chinese, Japanese etc.), South Asian (Indian, Sri Lankan etc.) or West Asian (Middle Eastern) Canadians are all more likely to stay with their parents until an older age or live in multi-generational families much more than the average nowadays, but all these different parts of Asia themselves are known for cultures that are more "family-ties" oriented than the West in general.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I can't imagine the British Empire would have thrived had all the adventurers, wealth seekers and inventors stayed home with their mums. Not that the British Empire and its exploitation and conquest is a model of fairness, of course, but this book is all about how Brits, leaving home at young age contributed much to the modern world.

The WASP tendency to leave home early isn't based on cruelty or abandonment, but on a sense that the individual can accomplish so much if pushed to seek independence. That certainly worked for me, my parents didn't push me out, but after being away at university from age 19 except home for summers, at 25 I'd had enough, and sought my own path and housing, including possibly joining the forces. Today I'm a senior mgr. at a large firm, own my home, have two great kids and have a wonderful marriage and life. Had I stayed in my dad's basement until I was 30 I would be at least five years behind myself today, or worse, for no benefit.

As for my own daughters, they can stay home forever, there is no push. Perhaps that's a little sexist of me. But I will be worried if I feel they are so risk averse or ill prepared as to be delaying entry into adulthood. They'll certainly be no overt guilt from me about their choices.

 

[Sandra Wills]

I like to believe it that today's generation is not the one to be blamed, their parents should. My dad is an Indian and my mom from The States. From dad what I learned is the value of a big family with old grands present. Grandparents are the one who give their experience shared to their grandchild more than their on child. This helps kids to understand the world better. This helped me a lot and I like to believe it is this care and sharing that today's generation miss. They are not getting the care and guidance even from their parents, which leaves them helpless in this competitive world.

 

[NorthYorkEd]

Grandparents are the one who give their experience shared to their grandchild more than their on child. This helps kids to understand the world better.

I take a different view. Sure, family is extremely important, but the world is a much different place. We no longer need to rely on elders and the people close to us for information and guidance. The internet has opened the entire world to young people, and it is much more difficult to blow smoke up their asses and fill their heads with unchallenged opinions and propaganda.

Back in the day, we had little choice but to sit at the feet of the adults around us and listen, and until we got older and started educating ourselves, and gaining our own experiences, some of those beads of wisdom were exposed as either lies, ignorance, or as being woefully misinformed.

I can imagine it's the same for many young people with grandparents from the "old country". These elders might still be struggling to adapt to a more modern, secular culture, and put extreme pressures on their children and grandchildren to conform to points of view that their kids and grandkids can't (and don't want to) relate to.

I often wonder how much of the domestic difficulties (and homicides) we are hearing about lately are related to this sort of conflict.

 

[James]

^ Good point, NorthYorkEd. The seemingly unlimited amount of information (and misinformation) available to youths today is mind-numbing. As I've mentioned numerous times already in this thread, one's social sphere is no longer limited to people around you. The bar has been raised on so many different aspects and to unimaginable levels, it's easy to feel inadequate. In the past, it was about keeping up with the Joneses (i.e. your neighbors). These days it's about keeping up with anything and everything on the Internet (i.e. the connected world).

On that note, there seems to be more engagement in youth activism; those who are concerned about affirmative action, in social causes, in raising awareness of global issues, in trying to understand where we fit in on a global scale, environmental issues, etc. Social media allows this generation to take a stand for whatever they want to believe in. Passive activism, I guess you can call it, via Twitter, Facebook, etc. There is simply a lot of stuff going on around youths today and this can easily lead to this anxiety we are talking about.

 

[robofree]

Children these days are spoon fed from childhood. They have never dealt with any situation their own. Their parents take care of everything. Whenever they face a crisis they completely breakdown. Then comes the anxiety disorder and panic attacks.

 

[blixtex]

Children these days are spoon fed from childhood. They have never dealt with any situation their own. Their parents take care of everything. Whenever they face a crisis they completely breakdown. Then comes the anxiety disorder and panic attacks.

This is a big part. And over the years, the school system has adopted policies to address these anxiety from the parents in terms of more sensitive training, every needs to win and get a reward for participating. Even grouping kids. When I went to school in the 80s and 90s, it was usually number. 1 - 2 - 3.. 1s go here.. 2s go there.. 3 here. But apparently today, alot of schools do not use the number system to group students as it insinuates ranking of superiority which can lead to hurt feelings and angst. So now it's "Apple.. Pear.. Orange. Apples go here.. Pears go there, etc". My guess is some concerned parents over the years made this an issue.

Having read this thread briefly before this weekend, I was at a bday party (kid's), and one of the parents has been a school teacher for 15 years. And I asked her this if this is true. And she looked at me with eyes wide open with a multiple yes nods. She definitely says there's way too many overprotective parents. If the kid complains about anything, the onus now is on the school system and classroom to 'defend' their actions. She teaches high school and students are allowed to skip exams or omit assignments if it causes depression and other negative thoughts. And they are not allowed to fail the students. Suicide is a big part of that as well (or the threat or feeling of). Ie. "This assignment is causing me to lose hope on life". You're exempt.

So the schools and teachers have to completely accommodate the kids, excuse them from the source of the stress, etc.

Least to say, it was an eye opener for sure. And apparently University professors all over N. America are exasperated by the type of students and their sensitivity coming out of high schools. But she did say those parents who really are committed and involved with their kids, making sure they take responsibility, are well-adjusted and perform well.

 

[NorthYorkEd]

George Carlin said it all in this clip (NSFW language):