In many (most?) cultures the individual is not viewed as important as the family, group, etc..
Infact, often times kids are thought to know nothing, have no real opinion and adults must always be respected, listened to, and know the most.
However, in a practical, changing world this is not always the case…
And we are starting to see an acceptance of youth opinion and the individual now.
Opinions?
Re: The Individual
I think times are changing....b4 the kids would not even be allowed to voice an opinion...but now we do have a say in our lives...what we want to study, who we want to marry, if we want to work (girls), and what career we want.
My father is a fine example of it.....he hated that my mom wanted to work...but when he saw how the world was changing...and that a girl needs to be able to stand on her own feet...coz the concept of marriage was changing soooooo fast...he was the first one to talk to me about a career.
Re: The Individual
great example!
There is definetly a shift towards acceptance of the voice and opinions of the younger generation.
It starts right from the initial days of education system. Perhaps even before. The TV programmes/books they are exposed to sets them having an opinion. The children are asked "What do you think about xxx?" or "Why did xxx do this?" And so in school lots of open ended questions are given to children. Lots of questions/scenarios which have more than one type of answer.
At home if they are given an opportunity to voice their opinions, it could make them feel responsible for collective decision-making.
Then again, it could also make the youth more arrogant.