Generation gap

WEDDING SUPERSTITIONS

In England the wedding preparations, ceremony and feast have all become loaded with ritual practices to ward off evil and bless the marriage with fortune.

The choice of date is important. May is traditionally unlucky for weddings. The tradition that the bride's parents should pay for the wedding. At most formal weddings, brides still get married in virginal white — many other colours are considered unlucky.

The bridegroom has a male friend with him called the best man and the bride has some female friends called the bridesmaids.

The groom mustn't see her in wedding dress until she enters the church. The veil should be put on for the, first time as she leaves for the church.

It's a lucky omen if the bride should see a chimney sweep on her way to church. Sometimes a sweep is paid to attend the ceremony and kiss the bride.

The bridegroom arrives at the church first and waits inside, near the altar. Just before the wedding ceremony begins, the bride arrives at the church in a car with her father. The bride and her father walk slowly up the aisle of the church, with the bridesmaids. When the bride and bridegroom are together at the altar the priest begins the wedding service.

After the ceremony, the couple are showered with confetti. Photographs are usually taken of the bride and bridegroom and their families and friends.

After the photographs everyone usually goes to a hotel to the wedding reception. During the meal the bride and bridegroom cut the wedding cake and give it to their guests. At the end of the meal there are speeches, usually made by the bride's father, the bridegroom and the best man.

The car the couple drive away in often has a sign saying "just married". Before she leaves the bride throws her bouquet to her friends to catch. According to custom, the woman who catches it will be the next one to get married.

FATHERHOOD

A famous anthropologist once said that fathers are a biological necessity, but a social accident. Throughout much of the present century and all of the past, our culture has conformed comfortably to this view. Traditionally, fathers have been portrayed as uninvolved in child care, leaving the responsibility of childrearing almost entirely up to their wives. Specialized to their role as family breadwinner, these mythical fathers provided a strong but distant model for their children and moral and material support for their wives. Otherwise, these fathers truly were something of a social accident, and hardly active participants in the rearing of their children.

Today, there is no single type of father. Some fathers remain uninvolved, others are active participants, and some fathers are even raising children by themselves. A variety of technological and economic changes in our society are redefining what it is to be a father.

In modern society, family exists in a variety of forms. The traditional family arrangement with mother as primary homemaker and caregiver and father as breadwinner is only one of many possible forms of family organization.

Whether for reasons of personal fulfillment or economic necessity more women today work full time outside the home than ever before. Women are also returning to work sooner after the birth of a child. As a consequence, fathers are taking on more responsibility for early infant and child care. The ideal father of the newest fashion shares in the care and feeding of the infant, especially when his wife returns to work. No longer a social accident, many fathers are active participants in parenthood and direct influence on their children's development.

PROBLEMS OF A FAMILY

There are problems practically in every family. The thing is that nowadays both parents work and as a result they don’t have enough time to look after their children. Almost all women in our country work. On the one hand, women have more opportunities today. But in most cases women work because it is an economic necessity. They have to earn money to support their families.

Certainly, when both parents work, they have less time to spend with their children. Children may become neglected by their parents. They stop doing their homework, miss lessons, don’t want to help their parents about the house. Very often parents don’t like the music they listen to and the style of clothes they wear. However there exist some more serious problems when teenagers start drink alcohol or use even drugs due to peer pressure.

Some people very often talk about a “generation gap” – a gap between the views of the younger generation and the views of their parents. The problem of the generation gap is as old as the hills. When parents and teenagers argue, usually it is about simple things.

There is no “fathers-and-sons” problem in my family, though we often argue and disagree on certain issues. I can always bring my friends home and my parents are very positive about my friends although they don’t always approve of our tastes, views and clothes. My parents rely on me and respect my views.

THREE GENERATIONS UNDER THE SAME ROOF

I have a big family. We all live with our grandparents in a three-bedroom house. However, this is not so easy.

Both myparents work. My mother is a psychologist and she does not like housework very much. My father is an engineer and he spends most of his time at work. For many years my grandparents have cared for our family. Both my sisters got used to it a long time ago.

My parents and grandparents quarrel very often. There are problems which cannot be solved easily. My mother, for example, does not want to obey the rules laid down by our grandmother. She thinks that she has the right to decide about everything in her own house. My mother objects to it and they often argue about such things as sharing the kitchen, helping around the house or spending money.

Similar problems exist in many families I know. Young people are not willing to obey blindly what is told to them. They would like to be treated as partners but at the same time they would like to rely on the elders for help and advice.

GENERATION GAP

The problem of the generation gap, the failure or inability of the younger and older generation to communicate or understand each other, is as old as the hills. Why is that so? There are a few reasons.

Psychologists say that most young people experience conflict during the period of adolescence. They are neither children nor adults and they are desperately searching for self-identity. As they are growing up, they develop different values from those held by their parents and hate the ordered adult world because it symbolizes the skin they hope to shed.

Conflicts inevitably arise because young people feel that they have a right to be independent Parents seem to be enemies who do not let them stay out late, wear the clothes they want to wear, or be close to friends they like. What makes things even worse, teenagers have a sense of impotence and rage as they realize that financially they still depend on their parents and they would not have a nice party or a holiday without their help and support

The period of adolescence is inseparably connected with making important life decisions, such as choosing a career path. That is precisely where the trouble lies. Young people are told that they have the world at their feet and dazzling opportunities only to be seized. However, when they finally decide that they want to work in a travel agency instead of studying medicine or law for example, their parents tear out their hair and seem to be heartbroken.

Difficulties in the relationships with parents may lead to such serious problems as the use of alcohol or drugs, the refusal to attend school, running away from home or even turning to crime. In such cases screaming and yelling usually does not work. It seems that the best way to put matters straight is a serious discussion, treating young people as equal partners and accepting their ideals. If they are neglected in the most turbulent time in their lives, their parents may lose them altogether.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29