关于美国华裔青少年身份认同讨论会的后续报道

- 莱镇华协 EdCAAL -

强大的自我身份认同感对青少年的身心健康至关重要。它不仅有助于建立青少年的自信、抵御压力、应对挑战，还能帮助华裔青少年在多元文化社会中找到自己的位置，坦然面对各种社会偏见和挑战。BOBA（Building Our Bonds Authentically）项目以统计数据为基础，旨在通过对话，探讨如何培养华裔青少年的自我认同感。让我们一同追踪，了解华人社区如何支持并从NIH（the National Institute of Health）资助的这项BOBA研究课题中受益。

关于华裔青少年身份认同讨论的追踪报道

莱镇华人协会教育委员会（EdCAAL）与哈佛医学院的Brigham and Women's Hospital（BWH）的科研人员于元月十日成功地联合举办了一场在线讲座，主题为“身份认同系列讲座：探讨美国华裔青少年的自我认同 - 心连心研究专题介绍”

Speaker Series on Identity：Exploring Self-Identity in Chinese American Teenagers - Insights from “Building Our Bonds Authentically (BOBA)

莱镇华协（CAAL)在此之前已对这项活动进行了详尽的前期报道。在这篇后续的文章中，我们希望能够为这个讲座提供一个回顾总结，以便更多的华裔青少年、华裔家庭和与教育相关的工作者深入了解身份认同方面的研究，并激发大家的兴趣。

莱镇高中毕业班的学生Felix Lou和BB&N高三学生Jodie Chen担任了这次讲座和讨论的主持人。讲座的主讲嘉宾是Fordham University的心理学教授Dr. Tiffany Yip和Harvard Medical School的助理教授Dr. Cindy Liu。莱镇高中毕业班的Vivian Wang、莱镇高三的Laura Yang及其母亲Lily Zeng，以及Winchester高中毕业班的Grace Liu及其母亲Cynthia Sun，都是BOBA项目的积极参与者，应邀参与了讨论。

在这次演讲中，Dr. Yip和Dr. Liu强调了青少年身份认同感的重要性。

Dr. Yip指出，种族身份认同会影响青少年的行为、思考方式以及对事物的认知。

她引用的统计数据显示，明确的种族身份认同感与青少年在学校的良好表现呈正相关，而与抑郁等心理问题呈负相关。强烈的自我种族身份认同感有助于青少年更自信、心理更健康，并能更好地应对外界挑战。

那么，如何培养青少年的种族身份认同感呢？除了学校和社会环境的影响之外，家庭也被认为是培养孩子种族身份认同感的关键环节。Dr. Yip建议在家里营造传统文化氛围，并在接送孩子的车上进行有关文化和种族问题的对话，这些都是很好的实践。

Dr. Liu阐明了种族认同感对青少年在学校社交和情感技能学习中的重要性，并指出华裔家庭缺乏讨论种族认同话题的习惯。她认为我们应该加强对话，让华裔青少年能够像讨论学业一样，轻松自然地与家人谈论种族认同问题。

目前，the National Institute of Health（NIH)专门针对亚裔健康研究的经费投入很有限。Dr. Liu和Dr. Yip共同主持的BOBA项目是为数不多、得到NIH有力资助的以亚裔青少年为研究对象的科研项目之一。该项研究旨在通过收集大量数据，了解亚裔青少年及其家庭对种族认同的看法和对种族歧视的感受，为建设更安全健康的家庭学校社会环境提供依据。

参与BOBA项目的几位青少年和家长也分享了他们的感受，一致认为该项目提供了让孩子和家长敞开心扉的机会，互相了解彼此对种族认同问题的观点和看法，密切了孩子和家长的关系。听众也提出了许多有意义的问题和建议。有人询问是否能分享这次讲座的录像给孩子或家长，有人表示愿意参与BOBA研究项目，还有人希望这个研究项目能推广到其他华裔社区。

根据听众的要求，我们在此通过下面的QR二维码分享这次线上讲座的录像链接, 希望更多的青少年和家长能够观看。

扫描二维码，观看Webinar重播

此外，有兴趣报名参加BOBA研究项目的人也可以直接扫描下方的二维码,得到更详细的信息。

真诚希望更多华裔青少年和家长参与到BOBA项目中来，支持研究人员积累针对我们华裔青少年自身健康的数据，共同努力，为华裔下一代创造一个互相支持、安全健康的成长环境。也敬请期待春季的第二场身份认同讲座，届时将有更多BOBA项目的参与者与您分享。

English Version

Follow-up Report on the Panel Discussion of Racial Identity among Chinese American Teenagers

The Education Committee of the Chinese Association of Lexington (EdCAAL) and researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) at Harvard Medical School successfully co-hosted an online lecture on January 10th. The theme was "Identity Series Lecture: Exploring Self-Identity in Chinese American Teenagers - Insights from 'Building Our Bonds Authentically (BOBA)' Project" . The Chinese Association of Lexington provided detailed pre-event coverage for this activity (link:http://caal-ma.org/committees/education-committee-edcaal/). Here, we offer a retrospective summary of this lecture, hoping that this follow-up report will enable more Chinese-American teenagers, Chinese families, and educators to gain insights into identity research and stimulate interest in the topic.

Felix Lou, a senior of Lexington High School(LHS), and Jodie Chen, a junior at BB&N, served as the co-hosts for the webinar and discussion. The keynote speakers were Dr. Tiffany Yip, a psychology professor at Fordham University, and Dr. Cindy Liu, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Vivian Wang from LHS, Laura Yang also from LHS and her mother Lily Zeng, and Grace Liu from Winchester High School and her mother Cynthia Sun , all participants in the BOBA project, were invited as panelists.

In their speeches, Dr. Yip and Dr. Liu emphasized the importance of cultivating a strong sense of identity in teenagers. Dr. Yip pointed out that racial identity can influence the behavior, thought and feeling in adolescents. She cited statistics showing a positive correlation between a strong sense of racial identity and good academic performance in school, while there was a negative correlation with mental health issues such as depression. A strong sense of racial identity helps children become more confident, mentally healthier, and better able to cope with external challenges. So, how can we cultivate a sense of racial identity in teenagers? The family is considered a crucial factor in nurturing a child's racial identity, in addition to the influence of schools and the social environment. Dr. Yip recommended a few practices, including fostering a traditional cultural atmosphere at home and engaging in conversations about cultural and racial issues while driving the children to their activities. Dr. Liu emphasized the significance of racial identity in the social and emotional skill learning of teenagers at school. She noted the absence of a habit in Chinese-American families to discuss racial identity topics, along with the lack of terminology and frameworks for such conversations. Dr. Liu believes that we should improve dialogues, enabling Chinese-American teenagers to discuss racial identity issues with their families as naturally as discussing academic subjects.

Currently, there is very limited funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) specifically allocated for Asian American health research. The BOBA project, co-led by Dr. Liu and Dr. Yip, is one of the few research projects focusing on well-being of Asian-American teenagers that has received strong NIH support. The project aims to collect extensive data to understand the perspectives of Asian-American teenagers and their families on racial identity and experiences of racial discrimination, providing a basis for creating a safer and healthier family, school, and community environment for them.

Several teenagers and parents participating in the BOBA project shared their experiences, unanimously expressing that the project provided an opportunity for teens and parents to open up, understand each other's perspectives on racial identity issues, and strengthen the bond between teens and parents. The audience also raised many meaningful questions and suggestions. Some inquired about sharing this webinar recording with teens or parents, some expressed willingness to participate in the BOBA research project, and others hoped the research could extend to other Chinese-American communities.

In response to the audience's requests, we are sharing the recording link of this online event below, hoping that more teenagers and parents can watch it.

Scan the QR code to watch the webinar recording

Additionally, those interested in joining the BOBA research project can directly scan the QR code below to enroll or obtain more detailed information.

Sincerely hope that more Chinese-American teenagers and parents will actively participate in the BOBA project, supporting the accumulation of our own data and working together to create a mutually supportive, safe, and healthy growth environment for the next generation. Also, please stay tuned for the second identity lecture in the spring, where more BOBA project participants will be involved!

Organizers

Chinese American Association of Lexington