The issue of Third Culture Kids (TCK) is one that can no longer be wished away. It is a phenomenon that has been in existence for decades now and generations are embroiled in the TCK issue as their preceding generation. The TCK are often referred to as people who have been raised in a culture other than that of their parents or the culture of the country mentioned in their passports. The growing number of TCKs is occasioned by a myriad of reasons in the different parts of the world where these individuals live. The most common cause of TCK is the occupational commitment, where the type of jobs that most people do keep them away from their own homes and culture and situate them for years in different cultures. Some could be having business abroad, be in long term government appointments and other jobs that keep them away from home for a number of years. The other cause of increasing cases of TCK is the now rampant civil strife in different parts of the world. The war makes forced immigration the only alternative and the refugees who often stay in the foreign nations for many years hence growing number of TCKs. The TCKs also grow up over the years and as a consequence giving birth to other TCKs.

The TCKs are different from other children in that they have exposure to more than one culture and often know how to live in these cultures with equal comfort. The TCKs are also different from the other children since they have the ability to learn new languages different from their own first language. These factors make them unique from other children since they are prone to creating their own subcultures as a coping mechanism and protection measure. The other reason that makes them unique is that they are highly mobile as compared to the children growing up in cultures of their own.

Dr. Ruth Useem has two main definitions of TCKs in her research and writings. The first definition...

The second definition on the other hand emphasizes on the movement into a different culture, one that the child will have to learn over the years.
According to Pollock and Van Reken, the TCKs are likely to form friendship and ties with other TCKs since they will be using this as a coping mechanism. They will also form friendship with this group since being outsiders to the culture that may not assimilate them easily, they will form a subculture that cuts across the different new cultures from outside the country.

The TCKs have the advantage in terms of the knowledge of the world as compared to the native culture children. They will know the different cultures and values of the other people and not just concentrating on their own culture. They are also in a position to compare the local and the international aspects of the human rights and other matters of international interest.

This group of people are referred to as third culture kids due to the fact that they do not only rely on the second culture they acquire as they live in their homes of citizenship, but they grow up in the third culture learned in the distant places they go to. The three cultures that the TCKs live with are the culture of their native land that they were born in, the culture of the new land they migrated to and the last is the sub-culture they may form as a coping mechanism in the new place they relocated to.

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