On my “Supervision Not Required” Podcast This Week: Are Kids in Other Countries More Independent?
The short answer is yes, often, but in surprising ways. I talk with Christine Gross-Loh, who has raised her kids in America and Japan, while also traveling the rest of the globe. In Japan, the parents don’t worry about kids eating too much candy, in Guatemala kids don’t tune out when the teacher is talking to someone else. But most interesting to me is Christine’s theory about why we Americans are constantly telling our kids to share — a tic which turns out to be cultural. Christine says it dates back to the founding Puritan belief that kids are born sinners and must be corrected from the get-go. Not every country labors under that illusion. Some figure that kids, as they play and fight and learn to get along, learn to share without us wearily hectoring.
It’s a fun, far-ranging (literally!) talk. And you can find the podcast by clicking here!