Marcia, Marcia, Marcia
I was just reading an article about China in the New Yorker, and something that a Chinese woman mentioned casually in the article really made me stop and think.
Due to the "one child" policy, the next generation of Chinese is a generation of "only children". I don't know if there is psychological research behind this, but in my experience, "only children" are very different from kids raised with siblings. There is something to be said for growing up in a family where you realize that you must share your parents' love and attention as well as your toys... Also having someone who you can conspire with against your parents, someone you can confide in, someone who can beat the crap out of you so that you don't think you're the most important person in the Universe...
All of these experiences are denied to the "only child"... I wonder what will be the implications of a nation of a billion plus only children...
Due to the "one child" policy, the next generation of Chinese is a generation of "only children". I don't know if there is psychological research behind this, but in my experience, "only children" are very different from kids raised with siblings. There is something to be said for growing up in a family where you realize that you must share your parents' love and attention as well as your toys... Also having someone who you can conspire with against your parents, someone you can confide in, someone who can beat the crap out of you so that you don't think you're the most important person in the Universe...
All of these experiences are denied to the "only child"... I wonder what will be the implications of a nation of a billion plus only children...
posted by e-kvetcher at 8:09 AM
1 Comments:
I hesitate to think of a nation of brats, but then, that might be what is needed to finally push China from communism to democracy, that willfulness of never being told no. On the other hand, it could spark another idiotic cultural revolution.
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