What can American parents learn from how other cultures look at parenting?.A look at child rearing ideas in japan,Norways,Spain and beyond.
 
The crisis of American parenting,is anyone who has looked at the parenting section of bookstore can attest,it that nobody knows what the hell they're doing.Yet despite this lack of confidence and apparent absence of knowledge,many American parents zealously believe that their choices carve out their children's future.indeed,they seek the advice of expert after expert in the field in order to succeed at one goal:to rise the happiest,the most successful,and the most well adjusted leaders of the future.
 
But what dangers lay in thinking that there is one "right"way to parent? How much of how we parent is actually dedicated to our culture? How do the ways we parent express the essentialness of who we are,as a nation.?
 
"Americans have no script",says Jennifer Senior (TED Talk:For parents,happiness is a very high bar),author of ALL JOY AND NO FUN:the paradox of modern parenthood.
"We believe we get to invert our future,our opportunities and who &nbsp;our children are going to be.which is wonderful,but also very troubling.
 
In reporting her book,says senior,when she asked mothers who they went to for parenting advice,they named friends,websites and books.None named their own mothers.Only the most current child rearing strategies were desired,in order to best position their children for achievement in the future.
 
In other words,that which is most American about us ,our believe that the future is unwrit_is what is driving us mad as parents.Senior paraphases margaret mead,who wrote this in 1942:in America,there are only this year's children.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That which is most American about us_our &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;belief that the future is unwrit_is what is dri &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ving us mad as parents.
 
"You don't see the hand wringing in other places around the world",says Christine Gross-Loh,author of parenting without borders:surprising lesson parents around the world can teach us."people understand that there is a way to do things".
 
In Norway,childhood is,strongly institutionalized,says Norwegain sociologist and economist margum Bjornholt.Indeed,most children enter state-sponsored daycare at 1year old (parents first get almost a full year of state sponsored leave from work),then enter school and organized activities.
 
Norwegains believe that it is better for children to be in daycare as toddlers.At daycare,methods reflect the country's fetishistic dedication to fresh air.So even in Oslo,where arguable the indoor air quality is fresher,and even in Scandinavian winters,children are bubled up and taken outside to nap in their strollers.
 
Craziness?culture.In japan,where Gross-Loh lives part of the year,she lets her 4-year-old daughter run errands with her 7-year-old sister and 11-year-old brother without parental supervision.Her kid's don't hesitate to take the TOKYO subways by themselves and walk on busy streets alone,Just like their Japanese peers.But when she comes back to states,Gross-Loh doesn't allow the same."if i let them out on their own like that in the US,i wouldn't just get strange looks", she says"somebody would call child protective service.
 
Both in japan and Norway,parents are focused on cultivating independence children do things alone early,whether it's walking to school or to the movies.The frames,however,are different.In Scandinavia,there is an emphasis is on a democratic relationship between parents and children.In Sweden especially,the"rights"of a child are important for example,a child has the"right"access their parents bodies for comfort ,and therefore should be allowed into their parents bed with them in the middle of the night. If a parent doesn't allow them,they are both denying them their rights and being a neglectful parent.In part of Asia,meanwhile Co-sleeping with a family member through late childhood is common.Korean parents spend more time holding their babies and having physical contact than most.But within a family,obedience is key not DEMOCRACY.
 
In conclusion we're supposed to be raising our children to leave us"they must develop self-resilience,which is a challenge,because we must allow our children to make mistakes",and this is enormously hard for American parents to do because they are highly focused on making sure that their children talents are groomed to success.yet parental anxiety is a terrible idea to export .instead,"we should learning from each other".

HOW CULTURES AROUND THE WORLD THINK ABOUT PARENTING.

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