Cultures helping or hindering

Families have a culture within their background, ethnicity, or The family is the prime way culture can continue or fall flat. The United States is the prime example of a place that a family can either carry on their traditions or allow them to become things of the past. Families can perpetuate culture is to continue to do different traditions and use language that has been used for generations. I think also a way to keep tradition is to not move. Staying in one place/ in the same country keeps the same kind of family atmosphere. There are many families that lose so much of their culture by moving to a new place. I think that a big reason for this is a disconnect between parents and children. Without that connection, the children lose the want to be like their parents and they can completely ignore traditions, values, and family relationships. Studies show that close relationships in a family result in healthier children mentally and socially. I will use myself as an example and then compare it to my boyfriend’s family. I grew up in a home that my parents fought all the time and were constantly in trouble for things that did not seem to be as serious. I was also told all the negative things that I did in sports or school instead of being told good job or praised. This affected me in TREMENDOUS ways. I now have major depression and anxiety with Borderline Personality Disorder. I know that some of my symptoms are directly related to the relationships, contention, and un-approval that I experienced in my home. My boyfriend, on the other hand, grew up in a home that was very nice, communicative, and loving home. He has turned out a very respectful, healthy, and spiritual man that holds his values high and is very understanding, patient, and loving. He is able to talk through problems instead of yell about them and he can calm most situations down. Just with these two examples, we are able to see that the environment/ culture that a child is around can affect them greatly. There is another example that I would like to explain here. A young man, named Jonny, grows up in downtown Oakland, CA. His older brother is part of a gang and his mom is always either at work or passed out drunk. His dad was killed in a gang shooting when Jonny was 5 but he was never around to give him guidance anyways. Jonny has no other example other than his brother and the gang members that come around. Jonny ends up dropping out of high school and becoming a drug runner. He only knows this lifestyle. Jonny is a very intelligent boy that could have great potential. In another environment where the culture was different, Jonny would thrive in academics, sports, and socially. Jonny could have received a full ride to any college in the country for his athletics and had a great GPA through his career.  This is a fake person in a fake scenario but this is a real problem. The culture that children grow up in is very important and is a large determining factor of how they will function, act, and think when they are older. The environment they grow up in can either function as a roadblock/ deterrence, or an accelerator. My childhood and environment created life hindering mental health problems that I am now battling in my adult life. This causes me to have to deal with extra things that others don’t have to. I have to put time, energy, and mental capacity into controlling my emotions, stress, and anxieties that other people do naturally. I know that there are infinite numbers of cultures in our world. I do not know what culture is best if there even is one, but I know that there are different aspects of cultures that are detrimental to children and their development.