Connections

Why many soldiers face a challenge when they come back home

This post is going to be about a special occupational group: about soldiers.
At the moment, four major wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa (Boko Haram) and Syria cost thousand of lives. According to the Syrian Center for Policy research, the number of fatalities is estimated to be half a million, which is approximately the number of inhabitants of Utrecht and Tilburg TOGETHER!

After the terrorist attacks in Europe, the stream of refugees coming from war zones and my stay in Israel, I finally decided to read more about the challenges soldiers are facing.
I realized, that Israelis, who are mandatorily requested to go to the army, are looking forward to fighting for their home country, but they also enjoy their time being back home. They like to share the experiences they have made and most of them do not feel ashamed or guilty, even if they killed people.
The rate of Israeli soldiers who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) amounts approximately one percent.
People experiencing PTSD describe themselves as shiftless, they lose interest in hobbies they used to like; they feel numbness and believe that they are out of controle of what is happening around them.

It is shocking to hear, that more than 40% of American veterans (numbers for Euoprean soldiers are not available) have not been traumatized during their services in warzones, but they experience a severe state of depression after their arrival back home.
The suicide rate of American veterans is even 50% higher compared to citizens with similar demographic characteritics who did not serve in the military, according to a comprehensive survey of the LA Times.

After 9/11 many veterans reported, that their health condition improved. Their symptoms went down, just like the general suicide rate of American citizens: the number of self-inflicted deaths decreased significantly in 2001.

But why do American veterans face such a mental challenge when they return after they survived in  warzones?
Why did the suicide rate go down after the horrible attack of 9/11, although one might expect that this awful act rather intensifies depression?

The well-being of soldiers is obviously not only determined by what is happening outside!
During their serivices, the physical closeness to their comrades and their trust in each other is essential for them to bear dangerous combat missions. They live in "tribal communities", where they share a lot and they show understanding for one another.
When they come back home, they quickly experience, that life in modern society is often lonely.
After terror attacks, nations stick together and stand up against the enemy. This feeling of being unified and connected can release powers and feelings of happiness, therefore it prevents people from sinking into depression.

The German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen was the first politician in that position who made effort to give soldiers the possibility to combine their family life with their job.
I am convinced, that this was a first essential step, because it enables soldiers to be more integrated into the society, so that a "culture shock" when they come back home, can be mitigated, although it does not help us to overcome the phenomenon of increasing individualism, selfishness and loneliness.

I noticed, that many people, especially women, feel connected when they talk and express their feelings and fear, which can surely help them a lot.
But maybe we are in a time, where remaining silent and being a good listener is as valuable as being a good talker.
Deep connection cannot be put in words anyway and a smile or a warm gesture can be worth a thousand words.

Racism at the workplace

Disadvantages black Americans face in the workplace

Before I started to write this blog and dig deeper into the topic of racism at the workplace, I did not suspect that dark-skinned people still face so many challenges and unfairness.

Of course, the sad news about police violence especially in the Southern States of America reach the German news and impressive films, such as “The Jury” or “Mississippi burning” became popular in Europe as well. The book "A time to kill" (John Grisham, 1996) increased my interest in this topic and finally led to this poste.
However, I was not aware, that these 20-year old films remain as topical as ever!

Doubtlessly, the USA has made some progress when it comes to equality between black and white. It is only 60 years ago, that black Americans got the right to vote!

With Condoleezza Rice, the first black lady has become a foreign minister in 2005; only three years later, Barak Obama was elected to be the first Afro-American president of the USA. 

It is not my goal to understate the achievements that have been made so far, but I also want to show, that black Americans still cope with many prejudice, for instance when they apply for a job.

In 2015, the Harvard professor Devah Pagermade made an interesting experiment:

She sent selected test applicants with equivalent CVs to apply for low-level jobs.

Pager found out, that black men with no criminal record applying for a job were as likely to be invited for a second interview, as white men who just came out of prison!

If black Americans get a job, their median weekly earnings are significantly lower than those of white employees. 

 

America seems to be a land of strictly limited possibilities for their black citizens. Pleasing changes have not been made in the last couple of years, not even during the promising mandate of Barak Obama.

This time, my closing words are not as enthusiastic as they usually are.

It makes me feel pessimistic to know, that mothers giving birth to black babies know, that their children will suffer disadvantages in their future life, without being given the chance to prove their skills.

The mind of children might be a “tabula rasa” (John Locke), a blank slate that can be scribbled on with the most beautiful colors. The future however rather seems to resemble a labyrinth with a predefined way.

 

The future of a new working generation

How things have changed

Spending Saturday night at home in front of the TV with our best friend? Booking the next summer holiday in a hotel we already know?

NO WAY! Saturday nights are reserved for going to clubs we have never been to before and holidays must be a unique experience. The further away, the better! Bungee jumps from the highest bridges or learning to survive in the wilderness are welcomed events, that only happen once in a lifetime.

“FOMO”  (“fear of missing out”) is not just a phenomenon that affects our leisure activities,

but it is also a new development that influences the way we work.

Sticking to the same job, in the same office, with same people does not sound appealing to most of us, at least not to my friends and me. As the amount of money we earn has become less important, the degree of freedom and commitment to the companie and colleagues has become a more essential factor.

While my grandparents´ generation lived to work, my parents´ generation worked to live. People born after 1980 seem to go one step further: they desire to find a job they love. Work means self-fulfillment! An occupation shall not just be our troublesome job, but our life!

I observed another interesting difference between generation X and Y when it comes to the evaluation of  overtime hours: I believe, that previous generations saw a strong relation between the quantity of work and the quality. Working late was an indicator for hard work. Nowadays, those who work late and have little free time, are accused of having a bad time-management and therefore a higher likelihood of suffering burnout sooner or later.

Many companies make much effort to meet not only their customers´, but also their employees´ expectancies: they offer opportunities to work from home, give freedom in decision-making and emphasize the meaning of the particular doing.

Nonetheless, some things change very little and very slowly.

We are still far from equality between men and women and racial discrimination in the workplace is not uncommon.  

When we introduce ourselves to people, one of the first things we mention is the profession we have. It is all about what we have achieved rather than who we really are.

The large number of opportunities we have when it comes to the choice of a profession are of course a positive attainment, but in order to make good decisions, we have to know ourselves very well.

We carry our best advisors within ourselves: our body and soul guide the way, even if their voice is sometimes not more than a quiet whisper in a very noisy world. 

Future your education

All-day schools

 

Since the mid 1940s, most American children have spent approximately 6.5 hours per day at school (from 8 to 2.30). Considering that weekends are free and vacations are long, children spend approximately 20% of their waking hours per year at school.

Personally I enjoyed that my mum cared for me after school. I could always tell her about my experiences and fears. She helped me to do my homework and to improve my language skills.

I was in a privileged position, but those, whose parents were not at home, because they had to work and those, whose parents did not speak German, saw the disadvantages of an unequal world.

Longer school days are not only beneficial for children, but for a society as a whole.

Crime rates and alcohol abuse could be reduced, if teenagers spend more time at schools, were they feel welcomed and secure. Spending more time with their pupils also gives teachers the opportunity to find out, where individual strengths and weaknesses lie and to respond adequately to children with special needs.

Making kids see schools as a place where they are supported, where their success is cherished and where they can grow, is an ambitious aim, which is far more likely to achieve, if children are given the possibility to gain self-confidence in sports, drama groups or musical education in the afternoon. At the moment, most leisure activities are reserved for an elite that can afford private lessons.

This educational model could be one more step into a world, where a role model with mothers staying at home in order to care for their children in the afternoon, is part of the history.

According to researches from Harvard Business school, in America, daughters of working mothers earned 23% more than their peers who were raised by stay-at-home mothers, while sons of working moms spent seven and a half more hours a week on childcare and 25 more minutes on housework.

There still is a long way to go and cost-intensive childcare is probably not the first investment governments are willing to make considering the high expenditures walking along with the maintenance of refugees, that are seeking shelter especially in northern European countries.

Savings at the expense of unequally treated children will put countries sooner or later in a dangerous situation, that is why I come to the conclusion that all-day schools must be implemented urgently.