An observation: east vs west culture
This is just a very raw observation, so it is still subject to further investigation and such...but...I did notice something interesting in western and eastern (chinese in particular) culture, in disciplining in particular.
I noticed it when I heard on the radio that China was planning to bar minors from internet cafes. Apparently, the government thinks access to media that is offered by the internet has had an adverse effect on children. In particular, if my memory serves me right, they experienced an increase in juvenile crime rate (?) and students' grades were dropping.
And the rationale they gave was:
"We will cut off internet access so that students can focus more on their studies."
And my initial reaction was that it's not true...simply cutting off internet access does not translate to an increased opportunity to focus on studies.
And then it dawned on me...the way that the Chinese discipline, in fact groom, their kids is by restriction...cutting off certain liberties.
However, in the west, children are groomed by the assertion of added responsibilities that they would otherwise not naturally be inclined to do.
Studying, for example. Let's say a little kid loves to play some game, like let's say, Resident Evil...a typical Asian way of doing it would be to deprive the child the right to play it until let's say the kid perfects certain long tests in all of his subjects. Maybe some parents would enforce a study schedule, but i'm inclined to think that most other parents would leave it up to the kid to get the perfects scores. A typical western way of doing it would to enforce a study schedule on top of playing the game. Either that or temporarily restricting access until studies are finished for the day.
Or let's say the instilling of values...Asians very clearly outline the don'ts. And usually the kids would find the don'ts very restrictive, yet the do's would not really pose any problems. In western culture, the do's are clearly defined, and usually the kids would find the do's much ado about nothing, but the don'ts seem reasonable.
A sample of don'ts that I've heard from Asians:
1) Don't marry anybody who isn't your race (doing so has undesirable consequences)
2) Don't eat meat
3) Don't eat anything with garlic
4) Don't be wasteful
A sample of do's from the west that I've heard
1) Make sure you're marrying the right person for the right reasons
2) Eat your vegetables
3) Work off the calories (not related to garlics...)
4) Give your riches to the poor
But as to what this means or what should be done about it...don't ask me...i just thought it was interesting to note...of course there are examples of do's in the east and don'ts in the west too...but i just hear more "you can't" from Asians and more "you have to" from westerners...
I noticed it when I heard on the radio that China was planning to bar minors from internet cafes. Apparently, the government thinks access to media that is offered by the internet has had an adverse effect on children. In particular, if my memory serves me right, they experienced an increase in juvenile crime rate (?) and students' grades were dropping.
And the rationale they gave was:
"We will cut off internet access so that students can focus more on their studies."
And my initial reaction was that it's not true...simply cutting off internet access does not translate to an increased opportunity to focus on studies.
And then it dawned on me...the way that the Chinese discipline, in fact groom, their kids is by restriction...cutting off certain liberties.
However, in the west, children are groomed by the assertion of added responsibilities that they would otherwise not naturally be inclined to do.
Studying, for example. Let's say a little kid loves to play some game, like let's say, Resident Evil...a typical Asian way of doing it would be to deprive the child the right to play it until let's say the kid perfects certain long tests in all of his subjects. Maybe some parents would enforce a study schedule, but i'm inclined to think that most other parents would leave it up to the kid to get the perfects scores. A typical western way of doing it would to enforce a study schedule on top of playing the game. Either that or temporarily restricting access until studies are finished for the day.
Or let's say the instilling of values...Asians very clearly outline the don'ts. And usually the kids would find the don'ts very restrictive, yet the do's would not really pose any problems. In western culture, the do's are clearly defined, and usually the kids would find the do's much ado about nothing, but the don'ts seem reasonable.
A sample of don'ts that I've heard from Asians:
1) Don't marry anybody who isn't your race (doing so has undesirable consequences)
2) Don't eat meat
3) Don't eat anything with garlic
4) Don't be wasteful
A sample of do's from the west that I've heard
1) Make sure you're marrying the right person for the right reasons
2) Eat your vegetables
3) Work off the calories (not related to garlics...)
4) Give your riches to the poor
But as to what this means or what should be done about it...don't ask me...i just thought it was interesting to note...of course there are examples of do's in the east and don'ts in the west too...but i just hear more "you can't" from Asians and more "you have to" from westerners...