[_-___________-_]

Agreed - I have a few Shanghainese friends, and they tell me their parents discourage them from learning/speaking Shanghainese, since there is no "value" in doing so. They used to push them to learn English (but maybe that will change a little now). Perhaps they have a point, but when you're young and still good at learning language, you don't have to choose one or the other.

I have heard similar stories from Europeans coming from places with strong dialects / local languages, so it's not unique to China for sure.