In this age of globalization, access to the Internet and the media provides instant contact with many cultures. Young people’s identity may be influenced by certain aspects of other cultures. Discuss the statement. What do you think young Vietnamese people should do to maintain our cultural identity in today’s society? Give reasons and specific examples to support your opinions.

In the last few decades, countries are becoming increasingly interconnected thanks to the advancement of the Internet and the media. There has always been a sparked debate surrounding how youngsters’ identity could be affected by other cultures’ attributes. In the following paragraphs, I will delve into the advantages and disadvantages of mass media on teenagers’ uniqueness and suggest possible suggestions. On the plus side, it is patently obvious that the Internet and media have played an indispensable part of young people’ daily lives, acting as a place for teenagers to connect and interact with people across the world. In other word, they will have a chance to explore the values and ways of life of other countries and are easily stepping into a multicultural world. As a result, cultural intermingling may be promoted meaning that people tend to reduce their cultural prejudice against others and tolerate each other’s differences, eventually forming an egalitarian society and differences among cultures have become less evident. Humans all share the same interest, standpoint and core values, thus, this could be a precursor to form a homogenous planet. Nonetheless, it would be blatantly unreasonable to ignore the demerits involved in this process. Globalization is widely accused of depriving young people of comprehending their culture features, some components of a culture such as traditions, customs, or taboos might die out over time. Because in some countries, the youth have become more accustomed to exotic cultures via watching videos and news uploaded on the Internet and media. Being exposed to one-world culture for a long time, teenagers, nowadays have propensity to abandon their heritage culture and assimilate into the new culture of the majority by means of media. Take folk music in Vietnam for example, it has been considered something of the past and been replaced by other trendy genres. As over time the Western culture has permeated into our lifestyle, and the Vietnamese people have broken many our time-honored traditions. Therefore, urgent actions should be taken to find ways to maintain the value of national cultures. First and foremost, there should be an increase in the number of festivals related to cultural heritage and national history held nationwide. These activities could promote our own natural beauty to local residents and foreign tourists as well as instils a sense of patriotism into youngsters. Secondly, future generations should bear in mind the importance of indigenous culture, as it facilitates to define an ethnic group or community that shares unique and distinctive features. Lastly, young generations could integrate into the globalized community but simultaneously keep their own national identity and flexibly adjust to the different aspects of the new culture. In conclusion, contacting with many cultures could engender several effects on young people, it is beneficial or disadvantageous depend on the way they approach it. However, it is prime importance to get appreciation for cultural identity result from country’s prosperity and world’s diversity.