There's been a spate of articles recently about parenting, going back to the Asian "tiger mom" (Who the Wall Street Journal seemed to praise), and more recently another article in the Journal about how much better the French are at raising kids. The French!
This morning, former New York Times columnist and author Judith Warner weighs in with the message that American parents fail when they put their kids' needs above everything else...including the needs of other kids:
I'd love to know if most of the 18-Million people who have watched his video are kids laughing or parents cheering.
One thing for sure: "social" media and cell phones have provided a new way for kids who are already rude (American or French I suppose) to display it on a grand scale. Some schools in Montgomery have banned them.
This morning, former New York Times columnist and author Judith Warner weighs in with the message that American parents fail when they put their kids' needs above everything else...including the needs of other kids:
French kids can be a whole lot more pleasant to be around than our own. They’re more polite. They’re better socialized. They generally get with the program; they help out when called upon to do so, and they don’t demand special treatment. And that comes directly from being taught, from the earliest age, that they’re not the only ones with feelings and needs.
In my own personal experience with kids here in Alabama in recent years, I must disagree.
I have neighbors with two pre-teen kids who are unfailingly polite. They "Sir" and "Thank you" me to death.
Among my best friends is a couple who raised a boy and a girl who are now grown and out in the workforce, and they have always been the nicest, least me-me-me-me kids I know.
But if you were to determine the state of kids in 2012 based on movies and TV, forget it. The kids..especially the American kids...are rude and miserable to their peers and to their parents too. I frequently find myself saying "I can just imagine what my Mom or Dad would have done if I had said/done that!" about the child characters. And no, I am not one of those who thinks everything was great in the "good old days". I'm with The Boss: "The Good Old Days weren't always good, tomorrow not as bad as it seems".
Then there's that real-life celebrated YouTube Father who's daughter wrote rude things about him on her Facebook page. He made a video to get back at her...complaining about her behavior and the curses he saw in her Facebook rant. (He curses throughout his own video, perhaps explaining where she got it from.)I'd love to know if most of the 18-Million people who have watched his video are kids laughing or parents cheering.
One thing for sure: "social" media and cell phones have provided a new way for kids who are already rude (American or French I suppose) to display it on a grand scale. Some schools in Montgomery have banned them.
Ha, thanks for the compliment. Seems I remember some whiney moments (definitely more than you) but I thnk it's true that if they felt one of those 'me' moments coming on, they had the good sense to save it for home, where it was no more appreciated, but at least the rant was private.
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