China's Youth Issues
Generation Gaps
This article exemplifies the generational conflicts in China’s society.
“We Are Generation Y”: Professor Wu Bing explains the troubles between him and his Generation Y son at home.
China’s Generation Y enamored by China’s “American Idol”
This article illustrates the impact of pop music on the youth, and their choice and enthusiasm for voting one’s favorite candidate.
“China under spell of mighty 'Super Voice Girl'
The name may not roll off the tongue quite like American Idol does, but that hasn't kept the Mongolian Cow Sour Yogurt Super Girl contest from sweeping China.”
This offers similar thoughts to the author’s assessment of China youth’s pop music preferences.
“Asian Teen Idols: Better than Western?”
“The power of popular culture celebrity has yet to reach China, despite it's opening up and embracing of free market ideals in the past decade. But inevitably it will. What is still under control is WHOSE culture it will mirror...
Youth celebrities or 'idols' are strong opinion leaders for youth worldwide. And the teen market is becoming increasingly important in many Asian nations, including the massive potential Chinese market. Advertisers, market researchers, and marketing professionals are well aware of their power, and it is useful to understand the different dynamics that underly differences in those cheesy 'top idols' lists from country to country and culture to culture.”
Marketing
Sports organizations, especially the NBA, have teamed up with numerous companies to market to China’s Generation Y.
“New NBA and Amway Marketing Partnership in China to Bring Jr. NBA Program to Chinese Youngsters”
“The National Basketball Association and Amway, makers of Nutrilite health products, have formed a new multi-year marketing partnership in China that will bring the league’s Jr. NBA program to middle school students and their families across China starting in September. The formation of the Jr. NBA in China marks the first formal NBA grassroots competition and first NBA-themed school program in China. The partnership was announced today at a press conference featuring retired NBA player Robert Reid.”
E-Commerce
ACNielsen finds that China’s teenagers are among the largest e-consumers in China.
“Online Shopping is Catching On in China”
“Across China, the most popular items purchased on the Internet are Books (56%), followed by Videos/DVDs/Games (24%), Music (23%) and Clothing/Accessories/Shoes (23%). Around the globe, China ranks the top where people purchase books through Internet.”
Westernization and Freedom in Chinese Schools
In a school system where freedoms are not usually granted, China’s teenagers are gaining more rights, causing many in Chinese society to question “how much is too much?”
“Kids granted more say in school, but even OK to sack teachers?”
“It's a sunny Thursday afternoon. Teacher Sun should be giving physical education (PE) lessons as she has in the past 14 years, but now she sits idly at the side of the sportsfield, watching her students running the track, guided by her colleagues. Sun was suspended from the post after a recent critical work appraisal, even though she once gained numerous honors and awards for her teaching. But she was more frustrated to learn that the suspension was because she was rated "unfavored" by her students.”
China’s Education System: A Pressure-Cooker?
In an extreme case, the pressures of school and parents in China drive a young person to murder.
“Violence, like charity, begins at home”
“On January 17, 2000, Xu Li, 17, from Jinhua in East China's Zhejiang Province, killed his mother with a hammer during his lunch break while his mother was having a nap in bed. He did this because he could not bear the kind of study pressure he was getting at his school, a pressure imposed by his mother.”
Teenagers and “Internet Syndrome”
China’s teenagers love the Internet. Many spend upwards of 5 to 15 hours a day playing computer games. Responding to excessive use of the Internet, the Central government has restricted Internet usage in Internet cafes. Some doctors now diagnose teens who spend too much time on the Internet with “Internet Syndrome.”
“Chinese Teenagers Find Net Just Too Damned Attractive”
“Increasing numbers of teenagers in China are being admitted to hospital, suffering from what doctors call ‘Internet Syndrome’. Symptoms include delirium, paranoia and psychosis. Dr. Yu Haiting, the vice president of the No. 8 People’s Hospital in Zhengzhou, says he sees one or two cases per week.”