Here’s an article that is completely delusional and claims that American kids are inferior to the children of immigrants. This is such a lie. American kids and young people are absolutely amazing. As a professor, I’d rather work with American students than students from absolutely any immigrant group. The reason is simple: they are the hardest workers. There really must have been a lot of propaganda to make Americans forget this about themselves. Americans, remember, you have prosperity because you work like nobody else on Earth. You don’t need to be replaced with a superior product.
Jeez.
As for the children of immigrants being better adjusted, think about it logically. People emigrated because something didn’t go well at home. They experienced one of the most severe blows a person can have, which is immigration. They are twice damaged by default. None of this creates better condition for kids than the absence of these traumas.
My kid is an American kid all the way through. She’s like all of the other happy, chirpy, free American kids and not like the sullen, angry, cynical kids we were in our messed up Soviet childhood. And that’s wonderful.
Clarissa's Blog 
There are a lot of things wrong with that article and you would need to write another long one just to pick it apart. Mainly, I disagree with the author that the kind of activism she describes in public schools equals to American culture. She is naive to think that those kinds of influences are not present in other countries and nations. What is happening in American public schools transcends the national culture and can be found in many western countries. There is nowhere to run. Parents simply need to take responsibility for raising their own children and not hoping that any school, whether private, religious or public will do that for them (plus turn off the TV and throw away the video games). Taking a personal responsibility, as I understand it, is actually a very American sentiment. I know of no other country with such a large number of homeschoolers.
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Exactly. Take responsibility, correct what you don’t like, inspire the values you consider important. But don’t wait for some “Japanese school,” whatever that is to do the child-rearing for you.
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“completely delusional and claims that American kids are inferior”
You don’t get protestantism, do you?
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I don’t get this article, period. It seems to argue that the US is a country of out-migration, which is patently insane.
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“I don’t get this article, period”
Culturally America is basically protestant which means you’re not supposed to get a swelled head.
If someone compliments you, you deflect and say it’s not worth complementing.
And you take a kind of quiet satisfaction from thorough criticism and takedowns of everything you believe in (as an exercise in staying humble).
Shriver is just filling a need her readers have to be periodically excorciated.
It’s like the opposite of russia where people are endlessly congratulating themselves for non-existent accomplishments….
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Ah. Interesting.
I’m more into congratulating myself. Penance is an intimate affair to us, not something to be indulged in publicly.
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Maybe in college American kids are hardworking, but I work in the lower grades and the American kids in general are lazy, disrespectful little bastards. The kids who don’t want to work, who’ve told me to fuck off and broke my glasses are Americans. The kids who work, behave and act respectful are immigrants.
My parents are immigrants themselves and we were taught to work hard, stay out of trouble, respect the teachers and get good grades. In fact, we got spanked for failing tests or detention, which meant we studied and avoided trouble. The author is right that too many popular TV shows kids watch teach kids to be disrespectful to adults, if we spoke to adults that way we’d get slapped. If I had kids, I’d spank them too, but I don’t want any and I’m homely and aromantic so I’ll never have any
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It’s the freedom and expansiveness in the early years that creates the steam for achievement and creativity later in life. The kids who grow up in strict and regimented environments don’t have the steam to do much or enjoy it later on.
The most permissive parents on the planet are Israelis. The least permissive are the Chinese. The results speak for themselves. Want terrified little drones? Be a Chinese-style parent. Want kids who grow up to achieve greatness? Don’t be a Chinese-style parent.
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And I’m not saying it’s easy, eh? I’d murder a kid who behaves like an Israeli kid while the actual parents stand there, smiling beatifically. My own kid is disciplined like a prison inmate in comparison.
But in comparison with Chinese kids, my kid is a crazy little dervish. She goes to an art lesson with a bunch of Chinese children. It’s hilarious to watch. The Chinese children follow every instruction, creating a scarily exact copy of what the teacher does. My kid pays zero attention to the teacher, does something completely different, and always comes up with something really unexpected and really cool as a result.
No offense to the Chinese but everybody has their own values. I wouldn’t want my kid to repeat exactly after the teacher. I want her to think for herself.
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\ I’d murder a kid who behaves like an Israeli kid while the actual parents stand there, smiling beatifically.
Do you have Israeli kids in your town?
What was the kid doing?
Regarding Israel, we have all kinds of families and kids, who use swear words and behave badly, usually don’t come from the most cultured, educated families.
There is a word for them “арс” (sounds like ‘arse’) – “(slang) someone behaving like a criminal; a rude, violent and boastful young person; (slang) pimp; (slang) “bastard””
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I’m talking about small kids. By age 10, they become extraordinarily polite and wonderful. I’m not criticizing this parenting style. I’m speaking in admiration.
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