Summary of
Main Ideas
Conflicting Changes of Internal and Cultural Values
With the adaptation of western values, the Immigrant youth and their parents both took those values in
different directions. While the parents believed that it was more important to hold onto their heritage and work
as hard as possible in order to survive, the youth believed it was better to incorporate western values into their
own and embrace change. In Vietnam, it was normal for parents to be strict, believing it was the best for their
kids, however now being in America kids disagreed with that parenting style and refused to abide by it because
it was the “American way”. These conflicting ideas of whether or not to embrace change led to divisions
between children and their parents that only grew bigger over time.
Struggles of Immigrant Youth
Younger Vietnamese Immigrants faced
significant struggles while adapting to the
differing cultural values in the U.S. Not only did
most struggle with English, but also fitting into
the standards they were held to whether it was
at home or at school. Their parents usually
worked long hours all throughout the week,
leaving the kids by themselves. They
additionally continued to hold their kids to high
expectations and were pretty strict. This made
most of the youth feel alone and overwhelmed,
leading them to lash out towards their parents.
