After 05, how much do they know about their parents' childhood life

Courtesy of Visual China

Editor's Note

The survey was conducted by junior high school students from a remote school in the Northwest. Although the survey methods and results may not be completely scientific and accurate, the perspective of peers reflects the voice of some children at this stage, and it is their self-discovery that is hereby published.

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After getting used to the 05 paid by their parents, they are more in enjoying the care and care from their parents: from food, clothing, housing and transportation to learning to make friends, caring everywhere, always paying attention to - especially learning. For the "too much" concern shown by parents, many post-05s do not understand; they are even more impatient with the mantra of parents in communication, "We were at that time".

What was "what we were like then"?

With questions, the Jingtai Third Grade Eighth Grade Small Press Corps (hereinafter referred to as the "Little Press Group"), mainly for 13 to 15-year-old 789th grade students, randomly distributed 200 questionnaires on "How much do you know about your parents' life when they were young", and randomly surveyed some post-05 groups and their parents. The small press corps tried to return to the childhood of their parents, to change "our time" from a sentence to a scene, a game, a picture, by "narrowing" the age to "narrowing" the distance between the heart and the heart, building a bridge between the two generations, and understanding the parents a little more.

Most of the students interviewed had limited knowledge of their parents' life as children

According to a micro-questionnaire by the small press corps, 7.5% of the people "did not understand" or "did not understand at all" about the life of their parents when they were young, 12.5% of them were "generally understood" or "knew very little", 67.5% were "aware of some of it", and 12.5% were "more comprehensive" or "more understanding".

Judging from this set of statistics, most of the students interviewed have a partial and limited understanding of their parents' life when they were young. In the social survey, the small press corps found that the lack of communication was the main reason for this situation.

In the interview, some of the interviewed students told the small press corps that parents rarely talk about similar topics, they pay more attention to their children's learning, and things that have nothing to do with learning are considered "not doing the right thing".

Farmland labor is the main burden for parents after 05

Among the parents of the post-05 generations interviewed, nearly 70% of them have primary and secondary school education, of which only nearly 10% have primary school learning experience, and less than 20% have high school and college degrees.

Most of them come from rural areas in the Northwest, and most of them were born in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the era when they were growing up, the material living conditions were poor, and the parents put almost all their time and energy into solving the problem of eating and wearing the family.

Chen Qiduo's mother in the eighth grade told the small press corps that at that time, because the family was poor, there were no snacks, and even fruits were rarely eaten. In the summer, when they hear the shouts of "selling popsicles" outside the house, they will rush out, use the pocket money they have accumulated for a long time, buy a 5-cent popsicle, eat happily, and be happy all day. At that time, their biggest wish was to look forward to the New Year every day, because they could wear new clothes and eat delicious food - fruit candy, peanuts, melon seeds, soybeans, etc.

Although the rural areas had contracted production to households at that time and their lives had improved to a certain extent, some families still did not have "excess spare money" for them to continue their education.

Compared with the current children, the parents of the post-05 generation interviewed told the small press corps that in their primary and junior high school stages, there is not much homework, there is no learning material, and most of them are completed in school. At that time, their learning burden was not heavy, the students themselves paid less attention to the scores, generally there was no class ranking, the school did not have a variety of test scores, and parents did not pay much attention to it - mainly because they had no time and energy.

At that time, their learning conditions were not very good: the school's desks and chairs benches were used for many years, and they were dilapidated. Many post-05 parents tell their children that at that time, they will exchange their eggs at home for an 8-cent homework book or a 2-cent eraser. As for the study of cultural classes, it is basically impossible to talk about. Children who have a special love of learning or reading will try to find some books to read, but at that time, the books were relatively simple, not as rich as today.

What really burdens them is to complete a lot of housework in their spare time and to participate in various labors in the fields in a large period of free time.

A variety of games are treasures in memory

The parents of the post-05 generation interviewed told the small press corps that at that time, their amateur life probably had several categories: one was to help the family do housework, such as carrying water, laundry, cooking, collecting firewood, cutting grass, feeding pigs, feeding chickens, etc. If there are younger siblings in the family, one of the important tasks is to help parents take care of their younger siblings. In addition, on Sundays and holidays, it is also necessary to help adults do farm work, such as herding sheep, watching melons, breaking corn, and picking wheat ears. The older you get, the greater the responsibility.

When the small press corps interviewed the father of Ma Shijie, an eighth-grade student, he said: "At that time, my parents were very busy, and we did all the housework. Every night when it was almost dark, I hoped that my parents would come home early. I remember whenever I heard my father pulling the bell of the mule, it made me happy that my parents had finally returned. ”

From an entertainment point of view, in the early 1980s, for the vast rural areas, only the township government and the brigade with a better economic situation (now the village committee) could afford to buy television. For children, it is even rarer to be able to watch TV. At that time, the most anticipated entertainment activity for most of the post-05 parents interviewed was watching movies. Occasionally there's a movie where they have to go to the open space early and discuss it for a long time afterwards. Sometimes, the same film is screened in different locations, they have to run a long way, watch it several times, and they are familiar with some of the bridges and lines in the movie.

For the parents of the post-05s interviewed, most of the fun when they were young was made of local materials, such as the mud knot war, mud cake, hopscotch, stone grabbing, hide-and-seek, etc.; some have technical content, such as making slingshots to hit birds and finches, making iron rings with thinner steel bars, as well as throwing sandbags, jumping leather bands, playing gyros, playing cards, etc.; there are also more literary and artistic, such as painting on the ground, playing at home, etc. Some boys also use discarded items in their homes to create many toys, such as water guns, muskets, whistles, flutes, cars, etc.

In an interview with the mother of Dai Baoyan, an eighth-grade student, she said: "I think the most fun thing is to dig stones - also called walking kilns, that is, digging a dozen small nests on the ground, each with a certain number of stones, according to the agreed rules, first throw away and then collect, and finally wait until all the stones in the nest are collected, to see who receives the most stones, who is the final winner." This game is directly in contact with soil and stones, which is more laborious; after playing, the nails are also ground to the bald, and there will be a lot of flesh around the nail caps. After saying that, she added: "But none of us mind." Maybe it's 'pain and happiness'! ”

Young reporters found that parents often have smiles on their faces when they talk about this topic. Those various games are the treasures of their memories.

How the post-05 generation views the life of their parents when they were young

In the investigation, the young reporters found that for some students who "did not understand" or "did not understand" the life of their parents when they were young, just by their ignorant cognition, they felt that their parents must be happier and happier than their current selves when they were young, and fantasized about their parents' adolescent time, which was completely carefree. This perception of being limited to "having fun" is very incomplete.

The respondents who had "general knowledge" or "little understanding" of their parents' lives when they were young were basically envious of their parents' childhood and adolescence. Their reasons for envying their parents are simple: no excessive academic burden, no great competitive pressure between peers, and not much social fear. At the same time, they are all curious and want to learn more about their parents' lives when they were young.

And the "more comprehensive understanding" or "more understanding" parents lived when they were young, and the age was one or two years older. Their understanding of their parents is more comprehensive, more thorough, and their vision is broader and their feelings are more profound.

There are also students who hold different opinions. A ninth-grade student who did not want to be named said, "Parents after 05, when they were young, were hard-working and could hone themselves in an extremely hard life and find happiness from it." If you let them do our sports test now, it will definitely not be a perfect score. People like me who put on highly myopic glasses prematurely would also like to have simple black eyes like them. ”

In the view of this classmate, many children today are not malnourished – if any, it is also caused by picky eating and partial eating – but overnutrition. "Although science and technology are constantly advancing and material living standards are constantly improving, children can't play' except for electronic products." This is really a question that requires everyone to think deeply, we can't lose the original 'original self' in life. The classmate said.

In summary, the small press corps conducts empathetic thinking: now we are learning from the mountain of pressure, we all want to travel to the carefree era of our parents, playing with our peers all day long, free and unrestrained. But maybe our parents are envious of us. We now have good learning conditions: neat desks, modern teaching facilities, and professional teachers to guide us. But at that time, they could only sit in dilapidated classrooms, studying with dilapidated desks and chairs, and the level of teachers was uneven. They also envy our spare time – we can watch TV and read books in our free time. But what about our parents? They have endless chores and can only follow their parents to work in the fields during the holidays. They also envy our food, clothing, and shelter – wearing their favorite clothes, eating their favorite food, living in spacious and beautiful buildings, riding their beloved bicycles. Think about our parents, what could they have then? Today's food, clothing, shelter and transportation are superior in every aspect of that era, but in the spiritual world, there seems to be something that we cannot reach.

The small press corps hoped that parents would talk more about the past. They believe that restoring the lives of their parents in this way, listening to their voices, and understanding all aspects of their past can increase the opportunities for children to communicate with their parents, eliminate the generation gap between children and their parents, and help improve mutual relations and enhance family affection.

(Instructor: Liu Zixue Li Renren)

Source: China Youth Daily client