Fragmentation of Family, Part I

This is the first part in a series of essays on the fragmentation of the modern family. The introduction to this series is located here. It is also part of the meta-post My Second Life or how we are creating a new generation of Otakus.

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I guess that the fragmentation of the modern family is just a symptom of our modern society. Teenagers leave home to study, parents retire in the South and kids leave the nest. Families do their own diaspora and end up at the four corners of the state, country or world.

What does this new culture do to the family unit? One of the consequences is that the children try to reconstitute their own new family units.

 

Blood is thicker than water.

 

One of the things that is prevalent in most Asian cultures, is a love for the family union. It is not uncommon to see three generations of family living together. With teenagers moving to big cities to study, the countryside is getting emptied out.

 

Does a fragmented family still function the same? I think that for most children and young adults, it is imperative to leave the sphere of influence of their parents for a while in order to find themselves and develop their own complete identities, otherwise their own selves become subsumed in their parent’s ones.

 

Family is important, but finding yourself is more important. That is why young adults should make their own way in the world to reaffirm themselves.

 

One of the most important things is to have some distance so that actually family can be appreciated. Unlike most relationships, family endures and sometimes can even progress even more when a step back is taken.

 

For an example, I used to do the exact opposite of what my parents told me. Late in life, I learnt that my parents have been absolutely right for a number of things. It was just my own stubbornness which stopped me from listening to them.

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This post is the first in a series of posts on the Fragmentation of Family.

Previous: Fragmentation of Family, Introduction

Next: Fragmentation of Family, Part II

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It is also part of the meta-post My Second Life or how we are creating a new generation of Otakus.

Previous: My Second Life or how we are creating a new generation of Otakus

Next: Big Brother Australia, UK and USA updates for the 31.07.2006

 

 

 

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