Assignment Name: Hard decision for kids in Segregated Communities When children grew up in segregated or insular communities, it’s a big time for them when they embraced their independence against the community culture. It’s an “either-or” question. Tolerate under the cultural norms or be a rebel and discover your own future? I admire those who are courageous enough to follow their heart. They must lose from leaving their past behind, but they don’t lose in vain. What do they lose in this fight? To achieve their freedom of future life, they might lose their family, friends or even been banished from the community. Segregated community always has their specific reason to bond together. Like religion, common interest and sharing goals. They also have their norms and rules to get things running. When a kid finally saved enough courage to state their wishes, they will absolutely deal with series of troubles first. In My Name is Asher Lev, Asher was asked to leave the Jewish community after he used the symbolism of the crucifixion, pretty much a big issue to Jewish community, to express his mother’s torment in a work. Asher’s father was proud of his son’s success in a certain period. However, Jewish culture kept against him from developing into an artist. Asher’s persisting of his career goal finally lead him out of his community. He left the community to stop hurting his loved family and continue his art freely. Similar situation happened in another class reading The Chosen, Danny’s father had huge expectations in Danny’s designed future and put him into a weird silent childhood in order to discover his “great mind”. Danny still planed to study Freudian psychoanalysis instead of inheriting his father’s position in the Hasidic community. Danny got the luck and finally got blessed from his father. His father realized he couldn’t choose the future for his son. Danny is the one who is going to live it and bear whatever it comes. Asher and Danny sustained their dreaming future with or without understand of their family and community. “No pain, no gain.” Change wouldn’t happen easily if one just sits there and wait. Though end differently, these two books are both convincible and good reflections of real life. Family care and dreamed career, nobody wants to lose either of them. But the family, or the community, can’t use their influence as a tool to manipulate the children and limit the width of their life. According to a survey of 25% of Deaf community reluctantly accepting CI (cochlear implant) people and 75% support the idea of not rejecting them.[i] Which means a person who wanted to know better about the world still gets rejected by a quarter of the community. It is glad to see they are proud of their deaf culture but everybody has a right to extend their knowledge of world. With CI, one can step a little bit further to feel the beauty of the world and nobody can stop him/her from doing that. I don’t believe the community can determine which direction one’s life should go. It’s not their duty. From the things you eat to the one you should marry or the career you choose. They are welcome to give suggestions nicely instead of giving command. It is respectful if you choose to live a certain way but nobody can force you to do anything. This thanksgiving I went to a Christian family for dinner and the whole family is happy for their 8-year-old granddaughter’s baptism. I don’t believe a kid at such a young age can figure out which god she is going to be faithful to. An opposite example is gay family will never force their children to be gay. You can be straight and still be loved by two gay parents. Gay community isn’t always for personal choice. Gay people once rejected transgender people in the 80s. However, for the personal choice of sexual orientation, they have the right attitude. Segregated culture also helps to hide bad things inside the community and get the kids into trouble. The