Of course there’s social pressure in the US too. But it’s different. I’d argue that the US has a lot of issues, but social pressure to conform isn’t anywhere close to the worst.
My son here gets stressed out if he’s not brought a hairnet in the proper color for swimming lessons.
Never mind that there’s no requirement to wear a hairnet in my home country, the idea of requiring a specific color, or the teacher getting upset if it’s forgotten is bizarre.
Nonetheless, everyone thinks this is a major problem here, and so kids internalize that and perpetuate it.
In regards to the speaking up thing, I think a major component there is that it’s often considered a you problem. All these other kids go to school just fine, so the problem must be you.
My son here gets stressed out if he’s not brought a hairnet in the proper color for swimming lessons.
Never mind that there’s no requirement to wear a hairnet in my home country, the idea of requiring a specific color, or the teacher getting upset if it’s forgotten is bizarre.
Nonetheless, everyone thinks this is a major problem here, and so kids internalize that and perpetuate it.
In regards to the speaking up thing, I think a major component there is that it’s often considered a you problem. All these other kids go to school just fine, so the problem must be you.