Draft of Final Paper

Thanh Tran

ENG 191

Section 27

Family Values in China and America

            A child who is growing up in China may be expected to live at home up until the day of their wedding, as compared to a child who is growing up America may only live at home until they have to move away for college, or even when they turn 18 years old.  From my observation and intensive research, I have discovered that families in China have a much stronger communication and bond between their members. They even depend on each other when they are in a financial bind and even when the children get older, most would still live at home with their family.

            Growing up in China, many children were not able to go to school because their families were not able to afford the tuition. If the family were not able to support their children through school, the child can either stay at home to take care of the house and their siblings, or they can go get a job to help the family out with finances. Even as the children would get older, most of them would still be living at home with their families. When they finally decided to get married, the couple could choose to either move in with the husband’s side of the family for a couple of years or they could move into a house that is still close to both of their families. This way, they could still get together on Sundays to have quality family time. “The Chinese value the importance of the family; the hierarchical structure of social life; the cultivation of morality and self-restraint and the emphasis on hard work and achievement”(Chinese Value 2012). In China, there aren’t very many active nursing homes because the Chinese don’t believe in putting their elderly parents in such places. They believe that doing so is disrespectful since their parents took care of them growing up, so in turn, they must now care for their parents in their old age. Nursing homes would be the very last resort if everything else would fall through with their living arrangements. According to the foreign exchange students from China that I got the honor to interview, family values are extremely important in an Asian culture. They value the time they have with each other and are able to communicate with one another.

            In America, children are forced by law to attend school up from kindergarten up until they reach the age of 16 years old. Most children in America would finish up school and move on to attend college. They would move out of their parents’ house, get a job, and occasionally talk to them from time to time. “The children live with their parents until adulthood, when they either enter the workforce full time or attend college. After a few years, the now young adults are expected to marry, have children, and repeat the entire cycle”

Work Citation

 "Chinese Values." Our Untold Stories. Gloucestershire County Council, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2012. <http://www.irespect.net/Untold%20Stories/Chinese/Chinese%20Values.htm>.