While raising kids bi-culturally allows them many positives, this way of bringing them up also subjects them to many issues. Millions of Americans are first or second generation people. Children who are raised by parents that are foreigners often find themselves hanging between two cultures; that of their parents and that of their peers. This can be both an excellent opportunity and a struggle for young kids as they develop their true identity. Besides lack of identity, children raised with two different cultures encounter a series of challenges including discrimination from others, and unclear directions on which religious customs to follow.
Children from diverse background face a severe problem of discrimination. This has a negative impact on children from diverse backgrounds. Children with two different cultures will often sense a devaluation of their religion if what their parents tell them about their culture is different from what they see from friends. They will feel a sense of vulnerability if how they speak, eat and dress is different from the others. In some religious customs, for example, males are considered more superior than females. The females have no right to speak before men. According to Sun-Kyung (1992), when she was offered a job in Company in Korea, she was considered inferior to male counterparts because women cannot speak or even disagree with men according to the Korean culture. Such experiences create severe stress for them, and they will feel socially disadvantaged. Nowadays, young children face severe discrimination at school due to the language barrier, their accent, appearance or use of home language and in most cases, they are kept at lower grades even if they deserve high grades. According to Jennifer Lopez (2015), children face discrimination at their level both from peers and staff. This takes the form of a critical comment or name calling.
Another challenge that faces children growing up with two cultures is about their identity. They are confused whether they should behave like their friends at school or their parents. They are subjected to different customs and norms both at school and at home. Such experiences are quite tough for children to go through. Sun Kyung Yi (1992) in her writing "An Immigrant Splits Personality," she waved hellos and goodbyes to her teachers but bowed her parents' friends visiting her home. She states that it is challenging to be both at any given place or time. For adults, it is quite easy, but it is hard for young children who are in their early learning stage. If children learn a new culture from their friends and apply it at home, then they may get abused and insulted by their parents. On the side, if they use their back-home tradition at the school, then they may get persecuted by others. Young children will always find it hard to find balance the two cultures thus making it too difficult for them to know which side they belong.
Lastly, children face another problem of which religious customs to follow. Both Muslim and Christian parents living in the United States force their children to develop their religious customs and traditions to fulfil the desires of their parents. In their back home religion, children are taught various things such as how to behave with elders, what to eat and how to dress despite their interests and willingness. This may confuse them if what they learn at school or church is different from what they were taught at home. Furthermore, research has it that learning more than two different religious traditions and beliefs confuses children too much and they will not be able to understand which one is right and what is wrong.
In most cases, parents will be happy if their children behave and work as they want (Sun Kyung 1992). She states in her writing that her parents were delighted and ecstatic at the thought of her finding the roots to speak her parent's native tongue. It is also seen that high preference is given to back-home religion by parents despite what suits and what is preferred by their children. Alda Oshin (2008) in her writing states that "We may live in America, but we are Filipinos. Don't forget that."
In conclusion, children will not always embrace everything about their parent's culture of origin. They will grow up to be a blend of both cultures. It will also be better if they become part of the new culture while still holding onto some of their family's values. Children should also be aware that growing up with two different cultures involves a lot of challenges starting from identity, language barriers as well as religion. They should, however, try to overlook such obstacles and make use of the benefits acquired from both cultures.
References
Isabela, V (2015). Finding a Nationality that Fits.
Jun, W. (2018). Jun Wong wants to see Canadian Dehyphenate Themselves.
Sun, K. (1992). An Immigrant's Split Personality. Toronto: Nelson Education.
Alda, O. (2009). Growing up Biculturally.
Lopez, J. (2015). How Young Children Face Discrimination at School.
