Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community.
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Youth is also defined as "the appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit, etc., characteristic of one, who is young". Its definitions of a specific age range varies, as youth is not defined chronologically as a stage that can be tied to specific age ranges; nor can its end point be linked to specific activities, such as taking unpaid work, or having sexual relations.
Donald Patrick Conroy was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books The Water is Wide, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini were made into films, the last two being nominated for Oscars. He is recognized as a leading figure of late-20th-century Southern literature.
The Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) are a network of schools, both primary and secondary, that serve the dependents of United States military and civilian United States Department of Defense (DoD) personnel in three areas of the world; Europe, Pacific, and Eastern United States and Caribbean areas. United States Contractor personnel supporting the Department of Defense overseas are eligible to send their dependents for a fee. The schools themselves are operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). This school system is the tenth-largest American school system.
Missionary’s kids are the children of missionary parents, and thus born or raised abroad. They form a subset of third culture kids (TCKs). The term is more specifically applied when these children return to their "home" or passport country, and often experience various difficulties identifying with fellow citizens and integrating "back" into their "home" culture. The resulting feeling is described as "reverse culture shock".
In the United States, a military brat is the child of a parent(s), adopted parent(s), or legal guardian(s) serving full-time in the United States Armed Forces, whether current or former. The term military brat can also refer to the subculture and lifestyle of such families.
Ephebiphobia is the fear of youth. First coined as the "fear or loathing of teenagers", today the phenomenon is recognized as the "inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people" in a range of settings around the world. Studies of the fear of youth occur in sociology and youth studies. It is distinguished from pedophobia by being more focused on adolescents than prepubescent children.
New Age Travellers are people located primarily in the United Kingdom generally espousing New Age beliefs with hippie or Bohemian culture of the 1960s. New Age Travellers used to travel between free music festivals and fairs prior to crackdown in the 1990s. New Traveller also refers to those who are not traditionally of an ethnic nomadic group but who have chosen to pursue a nomadic lifestyle.
Youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school. Youth subcultures that show a systematic hostility to the dominant culture are sometimes described as countercultures.
Camp followers are civilians who follow armies. There are two common types of camp followers; first, the spouses and children of soldiers, who follow their spouse or parent's army from place to place; the second type of camp followers have historically been informal army service providers, servicing the needs of encamped soldiers, in particular selling goods or services that the military does not supply—these have included cooking, laundering, liquor, nursing, sexual services and sutlery.
Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing up Global is a book of memoirs of several people who grew up in multiple countries, or moving frequently between distant regions within the same country, also known as third culture kids. It is edited by Faith Eidse and Nina Sichel. It documents the life, including the unique challenges, feelings of difference/outsiderism, and gifts, of growing up in multiple nations, cultures, and language-regions. It was first published in 2004.
Mary Edwards Wertsch is an author, journalist, independent publisher, and expert on the subculture of American military brats. She wrote the book Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress. This book is considered the seminal piece of literature dealing with the effects of growing up as a military brat. In writing the book, Wertsch, a reporter by training, interviewed over 80 military brats and documented the patterns she found in the ways military children are raised, and the ways they continue to be affected, both positively and negatively, well into adulthood.
In the United States, a Foreign Service brat is a person whose parent(s) served full-time in a Foreign Service posting abroad during that person's childhood. The term brat is often thought of as derogatory; however, for some who have experienced this background, the term has a neutral feel and is sometimes taken as a sign of pride. A Foreign Service brat may spend the majority of their childhood outside their parents' home country.
Relocation, also known as moving, or moving house, is the process of leaving one's dwelling and settling in another. The new location can be in the same neighborhood or a much farther place in a different city or different country (immigration). It usually includes packing all belongings, transferring to the new home, unpacking, and administrative or bureaucratic tasks, such as changing registration data.
Military dependents are the spouse(s), children, and possibly other familial relationship categories of a sponsoring military member for purposes of pay as well as special benefits, privileges and rights. This generic category is enumerated in great detail for U.S. military members.
Donna Lynn Musil is an American documentary filmmaker, writer, and activist exploring the subculture of U.S. military brats. She wrote and directed the 2006 documentary Brats: Our Journey Home, a film about growing up the child of a military family and the effect it has on that child's adult life. She is also the founder of Brats Without Borders, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness, celebration, and support for military brats and other third culture children.
Third culture kids (TCK) or third culture individuals (TCI) are people who were raised in a culture other than their parents' or the culture of their country of nationality, and also live in a different environment during a significant part of their child development years. They typically are exposed to a greater volume and variety of cultural influences than those who grow up in one particular cultural setting. The term applies to both adults and children, as the term kid refers to the individual's formative or developmental years. However, for clarification, sometimes the term adult third culture kid (ATCK) is used.
A military brat is a term used in several English-speaking countries to describe a person who spends their childhood or adolescence living with parents who are active members of the Armed Forces.
Child Identity is not only a psychological structure, but also a complex subject of contemporary humanitarian science. Identity formation is a complex process that is never completed. When we research the problems of identity we want to answer questions "Who we are?", "Do we choose our identity?", "Is identity given to us or do we create our own?", etc. In a world of change, children are faced with many questions and struggles as they sort out their multiple identities. Children begin to ask identity questions at an early age. "Who am I?" "Who is my family?" "Where do I belong?" "Why does my family celebrate some holidays and not others?". These are all standard questions children ask to determine how they fit into their world.
Lora Beldon is an American artist, curator, and arts educator. Her primary body of work explores the culture, history, and the effect of combat PTSD on U.S. military brats. She is founder of the Military Kid Art Project (MKAP), which provides customized art programming for military children and teens. She lives and works in Richmond, Virginia.
