草莓世代 The Strawberry Generation
Well dressed, confident, and energetic, the youths of the 21st century are the ones who will soon be the masters of the world. These youngsters born after the 1980s are also the ones recently labeled sarcastically as “the strawberry generation.”
Strawberries are delicate and great tasting fruit, but very fragile and perishable. The Strawberry Generation is called thus because they also cannot bear the harsh realities of the real world. As a member of the Strawberry Generation, I wouldn’t call all the “Generation X” people “strawberries”, but it does make sense to call some of us “strawberries.” For some of the youngsters nowadays really are not adaptable to the rules and demands of the adult world. They are not only selfish, arrogant, but also sluggish in work.
The cause of this “strawberry state” can be traced back to our childhood. Young people our age (20yrs old) or under were raised through the most prosperous and progressive era of Taiwan, constantly supplied with maximum care and minimum exposure to danger. Being treated as the most precious baby of the family, we become totally pampered. Under the protective wings of our family and parents, with little understanding of the difficulties and complexities of the real world, we have developed a self-complacency that is most unhealthy. With the influence of the rapidly changing mass media, culture shocks from Japan and the West, and the wide and boundless Internet, we are absorbing massive information while developing an attitude and lifestyle quite different from the old school concepts. All of these make it difficult for us to adapt to the real world.
Of course there are many young people who are well-adapted and tough; some have even learned to combine the good qualities of the “strawberry generation” and the wit of the old school styles. The true strawberries may rot away, but these other tough young people will survive and become leaders for our future.
Well dressed, confident, and energetic, the youths of the 21st century are the ones who will soon be the masters of the world. These youngsters born after the 1980s are also the ones recently labeled sarcastically as “the strawberry generation.”
Strawberries are delicate and great tasting fruit, but very fragile and perishable. The Strawberry Generation is called thus because they also cannot bear the harsh realities of the real world. As a member of the Strawberry Generation, I wouldn’t call all the “Generation X” people “strawberries”, but it does make sense to call some of us “strawberries.” For some of the youngsters nowadays really are not adaptable to the rules and demands of the adult world. They are not only selfish, arrogant, but also sluggish in work.
The cause of this “strawberry state” can be traced back to our childhood. Young people our age (20yrs old) or under were raised through the most prosperous and progressive era of Taiwan, constantly supplied with maximum care and minimum exposure to danger. Being treated as the most precious baby of the family, we become totally pampered. Under the protective wings of our family and parents, with little understanding of the difficulties and complexities of the real world, we have developed a self-complacency that is most unhealthy. With the influence of the rapidly changing mass media, culture shocks from Japan and the West, and the wide and boundless Internet, we are absorbing massive information while developing an attitude and lifestyle quite different from the old school concepts. All of these make it difficult for us to adapt to the real world.
Of course there are many young people who are well-adapted and tough; some have even learned to combine the good qualities of the “strawberry generation” and the wit of the old school styles. The true strawberries may rot away, but these other tough young people will survive and become leaders for our future.