Random Thoughts: On Youthful Rebellion

I have not wrote anything about my Thailand adventure yet, I think that is a result of laziness and a reluctance to blog about anything specific until I am done with the experience of student teaching in Bangkok. However, one thing occurred to me today. I noticed as soon as I arrived in this school that the students were considerably more "well-behaved" than students in the US. An immediate presumption was the varying cultures of respect for adults, a type of filial piety that seems to have spread through Asia and still has an impact on the youth.

Some of the things we do with the 6th graders here at the International school would never be able to happen with American kids (letting the roam wherever they'd like for lunch, giving them free time during the day, various activities that involve going around the school and giving them so many general freedoms.) If these occurred in the US we would think all hell would break loose.

So I had a thought on all of this today. Perhaps this difference is a result of how both cultures convey the obedience issue. I thought a little about where ideas of obeying your parents and other authority figures came from in a concrete way for both cultures. For the west it seems to be from religion, mostly the Judea-Christian tradition of honoring thy mother and father. In the East it seems to be more from a philosophical form. Where Confucius came up with filial piety, and legalism taught about strict adherence to laws. I find that these philosophies in itself are more powerful than a religion in terms of obedience to your parents. It's easier I think for the youth of today to reject religious beliefs and in doing so perhaps they also reject the dogma. In the philosophies of the east, there is nothing based on faith. It is really all logical conclusions made by ancient philosophers. What I find by living in Thailand for the last two months, is that people still speak of these philosophies and act on them in their every day lives, and the students are very respectful to authority. The same can obviously not be said about Western students.

This is not necessarily to portray the west in a negative light. Obedience to authority has its pluses, especially if you're a teacher! But the rebelliousness of the west can lead to important skills in questioning authority. Now, the west seems to question smaller levels authorities, like parent's rules, or doing homework. But I am disappointed to see that it does not transfer to the larger society. We obey what the people in power tell us and do to us, mostly because we are told we can obtain the same wealth and power. Youthful rebellion seems to die in the west by the time we get to college age. This part I can barely make sense of.