Culture and Cultural Effect on People in Different Areas

Introduction

Culture defines us; it is a way of life. It determines how one thinks, how one feels, and how one behaves. It can change one’s perspectives on sensitive topics or what one thinks about another. Culture changes the way one views others and the world from adolescence to adulthood through exposure to school, social media, and new surroundings. Understanding culture is essential for personal growth and empathy towards others, as it shapes our worldview and our interactions with those from different backgrounds.

Influence of School on Cultural Perception

First, schools can change one’s viewpoint by providing a new understanding of others around them. In school, kids are exposed to different people of various cultures. This exposure can “rub off” on others, and soon some may accept their peer’s views on religion, behaviors, likes/dislikes, etc. For example, in the story An Indian Father’s Plea, the father of a boy named Wind-Wolf writes a letter to Wind-Wolf’s teacher, urging them to stop discriminating against his son because of his culture. The father reveals in the letter, “Now he refuses to sing his native songs, play with his Indian artifacts, learn his language, or participate in his sacred ceremonies. When I ask him to go to an urban powwow or help me with a sacred sweat-lodge ritual, he says no because ‘that’s weird’ and he doesn’t want his friends at school to think he doesn’t believe in God” (Lake, 1990). Wind-Wolf becomes self-conscious of his culture because other kids at his school don’t do what he does. This is how culture affects adolescence through school. Schools play a significant role in shaping cultural awareness and acceptance, as they are often the first environments where children encounter diversity.

The Role of Social Media in Shaping Worldview

Similarly, social media can change how one views the world or others through the introduction to multiple, diverse cultures/societies. As an adult, what is seen on social media like Instagram isn’t what the world actually looks like. Through media, the world can seem beautiful. Although beautiful places do exist, usually pictures on social media exaggerate that beauty or peacefulness and deceive us. The essay Where Worlds Collide describes this exact situation. In the last paragraph of the essay, it states, “The blue skies and palm trees they saw on TV are scarcely visible from here: just an undifferentiated smoggy haze, billboards advertising Nissan and Panasonic and Canon, and beyond those an endlessly receding mess of gray streets. Overhead, they can see the all-too-familiar signs of Hilton and Hyatt and Holiday Inn; in the distance, a sea of tract houses, mini-malls, and high rises. The City of Angels awaited them” (Iyer, 1996). This group of people thought that their trip to Los Angeles would be just like how it is shown in movies, but for them, L.A. was crowded with people from all over the world and it wasn’t all sunshine and palm trees but smoggy and hectic. This is another reason why media affects how we view the world or others. Social media often creates unrealistic expectations and perceptions, which can lead to misunderstandings and misconceptions about different cultures and places.

Impact of New Surroundings Through Travel

Additionally, new surroundings can change the way one views the world and others through travel. When a person visits a different country for the first time, they should try to learn a little bit about the culture first. In the story Going To Japan, the author recounts her trip to Japan. She seems unprepared and unaware of Japanese customs. This particular paragraph states, “I undertook this trip in high summer, when it is surprisingly humid and warm in southern Japan. I never imagined that in such sweltering heat women would be expected to wear stockings, but every woman in Kyoto wore nylon stockings. Coeds in shorts on the tennis court wore nylon stockings. I had only packed skirts and sandals; people averted their eyes. When I went to Japan I took my Altitude, my Bare-naked legs, my Callous foreign ways. I was mortified” (Loh, 1990). Another paragraph reads, “To stomp about the world ignoring cultural differences is arrogant, to be sure, but perhaps there is another kind of arrogance in the presumption that we may ever really build a faultless bridge from one shore to another, or even know where the mist has ceded to landfall” (Loh, 1990). A trip that was meant to be enjoyed ended up becoming a nightmare because of the lack of understanding of the other culture. This story shows how culture affects how one views the world through travel. Traveling offers an opportunity to experience and appreciate cultural diversity firsthand, fostering greater understanding and respect for others.

Conclusion

To conclude, culture changes perspectives through school, social media, and new surroundings. I encourage you to ask yourself 'what is culture?' and learn more about what your culture is and of others’ because it is the key to knowing who you really are and who others are. By embracing cultural diversity and seeking to understand it, we can create a more inclusive and harmonious world where differences are celebrated rather than criticized.

References

Lake, R. (1990). An Indian Father’s Plea.
Iyer, P. (1996). Where Worlds Collide.
Loh, S. (1990). Going To Japan.