Teenagers In India Vs Teenagers In Usa ???

following this thread.. Can someone please throw some light on how is it different for boys? I mean growing up here compared to growing up in India in their teens

 

My Doc in US (around 60 years, she has 2 sons, she is from European back ground ) told boys are easy to raise. May be boys life is simple compared to girls.

 

If people think girls in India don't have premarital sex ...they are just naive.

They did it in my mom's village ,my classmate in school got pregnant and some of my daughter's classmates in college are in serious relationships.
My mom went to a village school.
I studied in Kendriya Vidyalayas...not some post school and my daughter goes to a very good govt college.

One of my acquaintance' s daughter lied to her parents about a college trip and went to spend a week with her boyfriend who is also known to us.The parents would talk to her everyday....they still don't know about her escapades.

My close friend has a daughter who introduced her boyfriend to her but told her....nothing serious,I may not even think about marrying him.

Not everyone is sleeping around,probably still rare cases....but if one wants to,there is not much you can do to stop it.....unless locking her up and beating her up is what you want to do.

I send my daughters(younger one just joined college) to college with pepper spray and a long key (as a weapon)
Having physical relations with a boy( that the girl likes )is not the worst thing that can happen to a girl(or a boy).

If a girl has sex before marriage n India and it becomes public knowledge....she gets tagged as easy .
If a girl has sex before marriage in America....I guess not many would care.

 

yes, More or less same age boy and girl, if interested in one another it is natural thing.

In india elder men can use school or college girls naivity and can roam with younger girls.
But in US law protects younger girls, below 18, that if older man has sexual relationship, the man can be punished. (In India Law might be there, but issues with implementing and as @yellowmango said it is publicknowledge)

 

Parenting is tough whether you do it in India or US. And, we cannot say parenting teenagers is tougher than parenting a toddler. Every stage comes with its own challenges.

I have 2 teenage girls being raised in US. I have so far traveled to India regularly every other year.
My kids speak fluently, read an write their mother tongue. While speaking our native language there is no English or any other accent whatsoever. My husband and I have really worked very diligently on passing on our language to the kids. We were very conscious and made sure we will not allow English language to squeeze into our family. We both believed that if we let our own language slip off then we will never be successful in passing on our culture, our traditions and values.
After all those years of hard work now we see that it is paying off. Both my daughters relate so well to all the relatives, they have a very strong bond with grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. They know our customs, our culture and they are proud of it.They have the "best of both worlds" and really that gives me so much hope about their future. They are going to live well wherever their future takes them. I am so confident.

Now, coming to comparison between teenagers in India and US. I strongly think it all depends on Parents and how they pass on values. Society can influence too but don't forget .... The child's first teacher is its mother.
In this world of social media, it doesnt matter where you live, kids are bound to get affected by it.
Spending quality time with kids, teaching them values and guiding them without unreasonably imposing too many restrictions, teaching them freedom with responsibility is required.

Moving to India and thinking my job of parenting is done or will become easier is foolishness.

About teenage pregnancy fears, smoking, drinking, drugs etc..... these things are universal. Can someone guarantee any one country that is free of these evils I once read in newspaper in India that statistics from WHO records show more of premarital sex in Indian rural areas than urban. So, that should clear lot of our misconceptions.

 

Hi OP,

Good topic to start my day off.

I have 2 kids - a girl and a boy.
Both are born in India and raised in joint family.
Kids today are teenagers tomorrow. So I am talking about kids here.

I can see massive difference in how a 9 year old thinks abroad to how a 9 year old is influenced back in home country. I am not trying to judge anything here - just trying to post my observations.

Work:

My 9 year old daughter understands that its hard for mom and dad to to manage both home and work. So she pitches in wherever she can - vacuuming, folding clothes etc. Whereas my niece in India who is also a 9 year old - depends on my sister for most of the things. In India many households have servants so kids dont usually get a chance to see and perceive how much their stay-at-home parent works. But abroad, having a servant is a luxury which not many can afford. So kids actually see it when their mum/dad work in the house. They eventually learn to help put and they understand and take up their responsibilities early and easily when compared to Indian kids.

Clothes:
I have a nephew in India who is 16-17. He started college sometime last year. When he sees girls dressed up in shorts or minis - he tries to look away because he thinks that it is impolite to look at girl in short clothes.
When my MIL visited us , she is never comfortable to join us to see the swimming lessons for kids. She says there are so many shameless people with skimpy clothes at the pool. My kids dont understand "how" and "why" my MIL looks at the swim suit in a negative way. When we visited India. we went to a mall, and my nephews (1 guy raised abroad - another in India) were roaming with me -because i am the aunt who spoils them - the desi nephew (as i call him) was unable to look at the girl in short clothes and said, "oh no , thats not very nice to wear short clothes"
The Us guy was like "Whats wrong, i dont see any obscene stuff there, its just legs mate, like you and I have".
What I am trying to say is, kids raised abroad dont struggle to see clothes as clothes.

Habits:
For most of the kids, book reading comes naturally, when they are raised abroad. Our home country kids - its a bit harder, because many schools do not have good library facility. Likewise many habits.

Premarital Sex:
Chances are not zero, but sex education is much better abroad. They teach it from Primary level according to the age and necessity. So when the kids grow up into teenagers, they are aware of some facts.
Now getting pregnancy and all is case by case issue. We cannot generalize.

Coming to imparting religion, faith and traditions - depends on how well the parents deal with the kids.
But

 

That is definitely funny!
Well, ugg boots in Chennai heat, what for!