▪️Europeans have always been more casual about raising children than Americans. But today, intensive parenting is becoming more and more common among the developed countries of the world. Should parents be so worried?
Once in a restaurant in The Hague, a woman complimented my son.
"What a wonderful boy," she said. "He's so attentive. He must be very smart."
My baby was three months old. Of course, I was flattered by the woman's words. Great to hear your son could be the next Einstein. But later I realized that her words rather indicate how the parenting style of European parents is changing.
Child rearing, as is known, differs markedly in different societies. For example, in 2009, an international group of scientists compared what traits parents from different countries wanted to see in their children.
The differences were striking. Dutch parents, for example, called the most important components of upbringing: rest, cleanliness and regime.
Italians wanted their children to be tough, poised and cute.
And American parents considered intelligence and mental development to be the most important.
Americans' Priorities reflects the dramatic changes that have taken place in child care in the United States.
The "child with a key around his neck" (low level of care and independence from an early age) of the 1980s was replaced by "helicopter" parenting (active participation of parents in all the affairs of the child) and "greenhouse" education (comprehensive development from diapers).
The inhabitants of the old continent usually took a more relaxed approach to their parental duties. But now more and more European parents are adopting the American intensive parenting style.
This is partly due to fears of growing inequality, but the emergence of a wealth of parenting advice also plays a role.
Olga Meking
BBC Worklife
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