Picture: Inherit or work hard for it?
I recently visited family and relatives in
Asia. While eating heaps of yummy food a recurring topic is the upbringing and
tuition of the 20 plus children and teenagers. Some are studying at local
schools, others at international ones. Some are destined to become a doctor
while others want to go in business. After many conversations one thing has
become clear: parents and relatives worry more about boys than girls. Most dads
miss the “hunger” and yearning in their sons. One dad put it nicely. He said
that his son could become a pilot, a cook or a sports teacher. All is fine with
me. But whatever option he proposes to his son, the son seems not to catch on.
Furthermore his son seems not to be motivated by money or materialistic things.
Which did not surprise me as the sons gets everything from the dad: travels,
electronics and even a car. So is there something wrong with the boys in Asia,
or even globally? Probably not. Here is what I have been able to gather so far.
There is a new generation coming up. A
generation that has everything from a materialistic point of view. This
generation cannot be motivated by a fancy car or a big house. Quite the
contrast. They already have experienced the spoils of modern living, having
attended good schools and been given any gift conceivable. So what do they
yearn for? They yearn for a more spiritual, sometimes even religious, life. A
balance between work, a comfortable life and a higher purpose. They yearn for
meaning and sometimes, interestingly, for tradition or roots. Social contacts,
mostly through social medias like Facebook, is their competitive playing field.
This is where they spend a lot of time and where battles are fought (e.g. cyber
mobbing). But why are boys more slacking in the eyes of the older generation?
I think boys are lacking adventure, danger and
confrontations. Today we live in a relatively safe world. We can easily travel
to almost any spot on the globe and most countries have abandoned compulsory
military service. In short, there is little adventure left. There are no more
dragons to be slain or maidens to be saved. King Arthur and Lancelot would get
bored out of their skulls. I think this absence of a villain or battle makes
many boys nowadays slack. Spending twenty years in school, listening to other
people’s thoughts and sitting for exams doesn’t excite them anymore. There is a
dire need for modern day dragons!
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