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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