Teen Life In Asia

Are teenagers in Tokyo more or less mature than teens in Brooklyn? What do Chinese teens do for weekend recreation? What do they value and care about? This volume shows that the lives of teens in prosperous and westernized Asian countries have much in common with those of American teens. Obtaining a good education is paramount, and Asian interests and tastes—in pop culture and sports, for example—are in sync with their American counterparts. In poorer and politically restricted Asian nations, teen life and opportunities are more restricted, however. Greater focus and energy is given to helping the family survive. Yet it is the ancient cultural and religious traditions in Asian life that constitute the fundamental difference between American and Asian teens. This book is an insightful and sweeping introduction to the Asian teen experience—from a typical day to participation in religious ceremonies—in 15 countries.

Teens in European countries have a number of similarities. But, because Europe consists of such a diverse group of countries, differences do exist. These differences can be attributed to a variety of economies, geographies, and politics. American teens will find a special interest in the region, as it is the region in the world most similar to their own culture. Each chapter covers a country in the region, and is written by a native of that country. The 12 countries profiled are Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey. Each chapter concludes with a resource guide providing print and electronic sources for additional research.

This unique volume offers unprecedented insight into the typical day, interests, and familial, social, and cultural lives of Middle Eastern teens. Each chapter includes a resource guide to teach teens more about the 11 profiled countries: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Numerous photos accompany the text. This book provides teen readers in the West with a window into the everyday lives of their counterparts in the East, fostering a better understanding of both their similarities and differences. The current population of the Middle East is young, and their future is critical in our worldview. Teen life in the Middle East is marked by extremes. In some countries, especially those that are Westernized, teens share the benefits of globalization with material and social comforts such as private schooling and vacations abroad. In other countries, political instability, religious and cultural repression, war and occupation, earthquakes, and poverty are ongoing crises. Many teenagers must endure a difficult, and sometimes nearly impossible, path to adulthood.

Teens in Latin America and the Caribbean generally face a difficult path to adulthood. Poverty and unemployment, violence, political instability, and emigration are frequently the norm in their native countries. Those from poorer families must often work as well as attend school, and opportunities for higher education and good jobs are limited. Wealthier teens, on the other hand, are sheltered from harshness and enjoy private schools, vacations abroad, and access to American consumer products. Yet family is important no matter what the class, and most of these teens share a love of parties, music, and current fashions. Latin America and the Caribbean are important regions to the United States, since large numbers of Americans can trace their roots there. Teen Life in Latin America and the Caribbean allows U.S. teens to understand the unique challenges and opportunities of teens in 15 Latin American or Caribbean countries. Photos complement the text.

This two-volume encyclopedia looks at the lives of teenagers around the world, examining topics from a typical school day to major issues that teens face today, including bullying, violence, sexuality, and social and financial pressures. Teenagers are living in a rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected yet unequal world. Whether they live in Australia or Zimbabwe, they have in common that they are between childhood and adulthood and increasingly aware of how inequality is affecting their lives and futures. This encyclopedia gives a different perspective based on the experiences of teens in 60 countries. Each entry gives the reader a brief sketch of a country to helps readers to understand how geography, history, economics, and politics shape teen life. The entries include a country overview and cover the following topics: Schooling and Education; Extracurricular Activities: Art, Music, and Sports; Family and Social Life; Religions and Cultural Rites of Passage; Rights and Legal Status; and Issues Today. Special sidebars, called Teen Voices, appear throughout the text, and include a description of a typical day in the life of a teen in various countries. Students will be able to gain a better understanding of what life is like around the world for their peers and will be able to easily make cross-cultural comparisons between different countries.

Asian populations are among some of the fastest growing cultural groups in the US. While books on serving other target groups in libraries have been published (e.g., disabled, Latino, seniors, etc.), few books on serving library users of Asian heritage have been written. Thus the timely need for this book. Rather than a generalized overview of Asians as a whole, this book has 24 separate chapters—each on 24 specific Asian countries/cultures of East, Southeast, and South Asia—with a wealth of resources for understanding, interacting with, outreaching to, and serving library users of each culture. Resources include cultural guides (both print and online), language helps (with sample library vocabulary), Asian booksellers, nationwide cultural groups, professional literature, and more. Resources and suggestions are given for all three types of libraries—public, school, and academic—making this book valuable for all librarians. The demographics of each Asian culture (numbers and distribution)—plus history of immigration and international student enrollment—is also featured. As a bonus, each chapter spotlights a US public, school, and academic library providing model outreach to Asian library users. Additionally, this book provides a detailed description and analysis of libraries in each of the 24 Asian countries. The history, development, facilities, conditions, technology, classification systems, and more—of public, school, and academic libraries—are all discussed, with detailed documentation. Country conditions influencing libraries and library use are also described: literacy levels, reading cultures, languages and writing systems, educational systems, and more. Based on the author’s 15 years of research and travels to Asia, this work is a must-have for all librarians.

Research on the family has expanded considerably across Asia but studies tend to be fragmented, focusing on narrow issues within limited areas (cities, towns, small communities) and may not be accessible to international readers. These limitations make it difficult for researchers, students, policy makers, and practitioners to obtain the information they need. The Routledge Handbook of Families in Asia fills that gap by providing a current and comprehensive analysis of Asian families by a wide range of experts in a single publication. The thirty-two chapters of this comparative and multi-disciplinary volume are organized into nine major themes: conceptual approaches, methodological issues, family life in the context of culture, family relationships across the family life cycle, issues of work and income, stress and conflict, family diversity, family policy and laws, and environmental setting of homes. Each chapter examines family life across Asian countries, studying cultural similarities and differences and exploring how families are changing and what trends are likely to develop in the future. To provide a fruitful learning experience for the reader, each chapter offers examples, relevant data, and a comprehensive list of references. Offering a complete interdisciplinary overview of families in Asia, the Handbook will be of interest to students, academics, policy makers and practitioners across the disciplines of Asian Studies, Sociology, Demography, Social Work, Law, Social Policy, Anthropology, Geography, Public Health and Architecture.

A look at the circumstances and life styles of typical Vietnam teenagers.