Young people in their twenties are carefree and fashionable. Opinions of other people do not matter to them, because they act completely of their own free will. They are really “in.” Compared with young people of the past, they do not seem to be in line with conventional concepts. They say, “We lead the mainstream of the times, and we are the mainstream youth of the times.”
“Long Live 60 Points”
“Sixty points are enough and 70 points are a luxury for me,” said Xie Xuejun, a student at Wuhan University. “The test is a way to check how a student has mastered book knowledge rather than a measure of one’s ability. The most important thing for a student is to develop a comprehensive quality, which covers the ability to solve real problems, plus social interaction and innovation.
“When we say ‘Long live 60 points,’ we are just finding an excuse to comfort ourselves,” said a student. “We face such big pressures in our studies and if we are not tolerant towards ourselves, we cannot face social competition in the future.
In the 1980s, college graduates were assigned jobs by the State. Upon graduation, scores were actually not particularly important, as the State would arrange a position for a graduate anyway, and the unit concerned had to accept the student.
Prof. Wang Jianping is director of the Education Department of the Institute of Education Sciences of the Capital Normal University. From his perspective, this is actually an issue on how to evaluate the scores. As social standards regarding the selection of talented people have changed, judging a person’s talent by the criterion of scores has become outdated. Nowadays, employers often stress actual work experience when they recruit new staff.
Under such circumstances, college students naturally reconsider book study. They find out that participation in some social activities can be more useful than learning from a book, and college education becomes merely an aura over their heads. “As they see only immediate results, they fail to realize that the four-year accumulation of knowledge gained in college is the foundation of their future development,” said Prof. Wang.
Interactions With Material Goals
In this era of swift change, interactions of young people have richer content. Some traditional concepts have given way to practices more characteristic of this age, and dominated by individualism.
The environment of a market economy has bred economic consciousness in contemporary youth, who carry out their interactions centering on economic returns. Many young people seek “business opportunities” in their contact with old or new friends. They hope the friendship can bring about possibilities of economic cooperation. From their point of view, the interactions of modern people should be practical, and “economic brains” are necessary so that both parties can gain a certain kind of economic benefit.
Wang Yong is a young man with quite a strong economic base. He has a distinct principle for social interactions: They must center on an economic aspect. With such a theme, his contacts with both old and new friends are largely related to economic benefit.
“I made most of my friends while doing business. I’ve been in the real estate information service, in an advertising agency and in a marketing firm, and all these are results of cooperation with friends. It is not always bad to mix interpersonal relationships with some kind of economic benefit. Today, one has to do things related to one’s benefit. Economic benefit is often a topic of conversation between my friends and I. I don’t care about a person’s personality or integrity, I’m looking for what benefits this person’s profession and social status can bring me,” said Wang.
Are They Real Friends?
“Such thinking by young people features strong utilitarianism,” said Prof. Wang, who apparently disagrees with the criterion mainstream youth have for selecting friends. “Friendship should be a relationship of trust based on sincerity, mutual help, mutual understanding and mutual tolerance, rather than a pure, naked economic relationship. Such a friendship won’t last long, and such a criterion for selecting friends is socially unacceptable.”
Say ‘Nay’ to Employment
While the government and related departments worry about the employment of college graduates, many young people take another road by choosing not to be employed. Graduates who do not want to be employed make up 2 percent of the total number of college graduates.
At graduation, Guo Liang received no job offers. Because of household registration regulations, he returned to the residential district that he had left when he went to college. At the police station in this residential district, the police officer, with Guo’s Master’s Degree in front of him, was reluctant to write the words “waiting for a job” in Guo’s household registration book. Regret was clear on the face of the police officer, but Guo felt exhilarated—he had waited so long for this day of liberation.
Now, Guo is a freelance stock trader. Many people think Guo is not taking the right path, but Guo has his own logic. “I studied computer science because I liked it,” he said. “But I’m also interested in, and capable of doing many other things. Stock trading is one of the things I find interesting. For me, stock trading is a mathematical game. In the game, money is the prize and intelligence counts. I needn’t deal with interpersonal relations, which is not my forte.”
As for the “right” way, Guo said that, compared with the entire world, this way is too narrow, and there are too many people squeezing it, which he dislikes.
Expert’s Opinion
Xi Jieying, Director of the China Juvenile Research Center, treats “mainstream” youth with much more understanding and tolerance. He said the “Long live 60 points” phenomenon is largely attributed to the slow updating of teaching materials.
“In the age of knowledge economy, knowledge should be updated every five years,” said Xi. “When students find that facts learned from their textbooks are disconnected with reality, they are unwilling to exert effort on outdated knowledge. On the contrary, they are willing to spend more time on social interactions to keep pace with social development. And this choice is wise and rational.”
From Xi’s point of view, as these young people are growing up in a market economy characterized by reform and opening up, their views towards the world and life bear the brand of the times. Seeking material benefits and being practical are their characteristics, which are also necessary for social progress. It is true that sometimes their way of thinking, expression and choice has too strong an individualistic color, but we cannot demand that they follow one mode. The times are different, we should not judge and evaluate them according to old standards, or criticize them. What we should do is guide them with understanding and tolerance. As for their lack of maturity, rationality and sense of responsibility because they are too self-centered, time will make up for this, with the accumulation of personal experience.
“The neo-mainstream youth are sharp, independent and outstanding. The times have endowed them with the spirit of innovation and pragmatism. They should be trusted and accepted by more people,” Xi confidently said.
(Beijing Review November 6, 2001)
