Role of Elders in the Asian Culture - Essay Example

Running Head: Role of Elders in the Asian Culture Role of Elders in the Asian Culture [Institute’s Role of Elders in the AsianCulture Culture is one of the most significant factors that play an important and crucial role in the lives of millions of people emotionally, socially, economically, as well as, spiritually. In specific, different cultures have different and diverse norms and values, rituals, and festivals, which distinguish them from each other. (Infeld, 2002) In this regard, Asian culture is one of the most dominated and practiced cultures around the globe.

This paper will try to understand the role that is played by elders in the context of Asian culture. It has been observed that elderly people are considered the source of care, guidance, and shelter in the Asian culture. Families, communities, societies, and nations have been promoted by the elderly people during their lives. More importantly, children are educated, cared, and nurtured by the parents and elders in the Asian culture. Therefore, parents deserve comfort, love, and respect throughout their lives from their youngsters and children.

In other words, caring and respecting elders and parents is the moral and ethical obligation of children in the Asian region.In this regard, it is the responsibility of elders to take care of their youngsters, love them, and keep guiding them throughout their lives. On the other hand, American or British culture allows the individuals to start making their own decisions in their adolescent age, which is very contrary with the norms and values of the Asian culture. For instance, teachers are often allowed to be strict with the young students in Asian schools, or elders often treat youngsters in a harsh way, which is very different, as compared with the American culture.

(Blackkaby, 1998)In brief, role that is played by old people is affected significantly by the cultural differences, as role and respect changes to a higher extent in different cultures. (Huntington, 2000) In East-Asian culture, a notable tradition is specifically practiced in this region, which is referred as filial piety. China, Japan, and Korea are some of the cultures that have the dominated practice of such practice. Care for the elderly is the most imperative and foremost obligation of this tradition.

(Lee, 2004) Moreover, elderly people in these cultures play a guiding role to nurture their youngsters in an emotional, as well as, spiritual manner. In the Asian context, parents and elders must provide shelter, care, and assistance to the youngsters in emotional, as well as, financial manner, which is once again, contrary to the Western culture, which obligates youngsters to start working and earning from the early age. On the other hand, Asian culture obligates parents and elderly people to earn and provide shelter to their youngsters.

(Detzner, 2004)Furthermore, Asian culture also necessitates elderly to take care and back up their children and youngsters at the time of their financial problems. On the other hand, Western culture obligates the individual himself who has to pay back his debts. However, elderly people have the responsibility to support their children financially in times of needs. Moreover, such responsibility is mostly taken by male elders, as Asian society is referred as a male-dominated society, and therefore, male confronts the major difficulties related to children in the Asian region.

(Marcell, 2001) On the other hand, women has the responsibility of doing house chores, whereas, male elders do the work, which is contrary to the Western culture, which supports the working culture of women also. In brief, elders play a significant and crucial role in the development and nurturing of youngsters and children in the Asian culture. Conclusively, the paper has described and discussed some of the most important roles that are played by elders in the Asian culture. It is hoped that the paper will be beneficial for the students, teachers, experts, and nonprofessionals in better understanding of the topic.

ReferencesBob Blackkaby. (1998). Culture of Care. Ashram Agency.Daniel F. Detzner. (2004). Elder Voices. Rowman Altamira. Donna Lind Infeld. (2002). Disciplinary Approaches to Aging. Taylor & Francis.Jacqueline Marcell. (2001). Elder Rage. Impressive Press.Jennifer Lee. (2004). Asian American Youth. Routledge.Samuel P. Huntington. (2000). Culture Matters. Basic Books.