The Chinese culture is renowned for its work ethic, discipline, and pursuit of greatness, as well as its focus on family and ancestry. Considering that this ethnicity accounts for almost one-sixth of the world’s populace, the parenting concepts utilized in Chinese families have a significant impact not just on Chinese social structure but on global society as a whole. However, the Chinese approach in this vein is quite questionable for me as a representative of the US culture.
Historically, Chinese parents are actively engaged in their children’s development and exert a tremendous deal of influence. Zhu & Chang (2019) find that owing to the intrinsic nature of the Chinese cultural environment, it is uncommon to find supportive parents who have little impact on their child’s growth. There is a substantial correlation between a mother’s devotion to traditional Chinese beliefs and the way she raises her children. Mothers who were more faithful to traditional Chinese beliefs were more likely to be ‘authoritarian’ with their children. With this parenting style, children are never allowed to dispute their parents’ requests and directives.
Then, the Chinese culture has a profound respect for its elders. In this manner, the majority of grandparents have an active part in childrearing. The use of babysitters is far less prevalent than in the United States, for example. This implies that a kid may have two to four active parental characters if grandparents reside in the same household. This is supported by Zhu & Chang (2019), who find that Chinese parents embrace parenting approaches defined by high expectations, significant parental participation, and promotion of academic desire and compliance in order to enhance adolescents’ social learning abilities, which are essential in the school system. Essentially, Chinese parents feel that successful parenting entails being very engaged and pushing their kids to their ultimate limits.
It seems reasonable to state that for me – as for the representative of American culture – the explored approach is quite uncommon. I consider support, a considerable extent of freedom, and even babysitting as integrated elements of parenting. This perspective is founded on the cultural environment in which I have been developing (Heine, 2020). It shapes my views of distinctive parenting practices to a great degree..
References
Heine, S. J. (2020). Cultural Psychology. W. W. Norton & Company.
Zhu, N., & Chang, L. (2019). Education and parenting in China. In: Sorbring, E., Lansford, J. (eds.) School systems, parent behavior, and academic achievement. Springer.