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Tammy E M - 06:44pm Mar 10, 1999 (#1 of 8)
I noticed that the French students answers to what defines
a well-behaved child dealt more with external behavior - that
the child should always present himself/herself well in public,
be polite, say hello and thank you, etc. How do you think a well-behaved
child should act at home and with their family and friends?
Well-behaved children
In America, it is a common sight to see a parent hit their
naughty child when he/she is misbehaving. I can't tell you how
many times I've seen mothers slap their child on the rear end
when they are acting up in the grocery store. Does this happen
in France too? A lot of your reponses included being polite, which
seems to be very important in your culture. Do you think that
Americans have a different view of politeness than you?
de la politesse
Il est vrai que les Francais accordent une grande importance
a la politesse. Nous pensons que cela facilite la communication
et les relations interpersonnelles. Il est souvent difficile d'obtenir
quelque chose de la part de quelqu'un si on commence par l'insulter
ou a etre desagreable avec lui. Par contre, meme si ce n'est pas
vrai pour tout le monde, la majorite des Francais part du principe
qu'une personne qui agit mal doit etre punit en consequence. Ceci
s'applique bien entendu aux enfants egalement et il n'est pas
rare de gifler un gamin qui fait un caprice. A l'inverse, une
personne qui se comporte bien doit etre recompensee. Tout cela
releve de la politique du baton et de la carotte : le baton pour
punir et la carotte pour recompenser.
Dennis the menace
I noticed the americans have linked the good behavior to the
attitude towards the parents mainly and the french are more inclined
to associate it with a more general social envirinment. Keep up
the good habit of 'bonjour', here is very rare... If you ever
go to Greece, just say 'kalimera'...Trust me gyus this is not
a bad word. Pas de questions..are you using any other words instead
of 'bonjour' when you are among friends? it would be interesting
to know...
Surprise
I was sort of surprised when you said that is not uncommon
in France either to see a parent strike their child in public.
I was under the impression that it didn't as often in other cultures.
I guess that kind of stuff varies from family to family, no matter
where. In America, parents often offer their children rewards
for getting good grades, etc. Do parents in France do that too?
Salut Konstantinos!
Et oui c'est comme ça qu'on dit bonjour entre amis ou
entre potes! Certains disent hello parfois. Pour dire Au revoir
on dit aussi "tchao" ou ciao, à plus (ou à+
dans les mails (comprendre e-mails)) ou encore salut. A+ donc
Spanking a Child
I noticed that you said it is not uncommon to see a parent
slap a child in public when they are misbehaving. In my opinion,
in the United States more people are starting to be concerned
with child abuse. Therefore, I think parents would be given a
disapproving look by a stranger if he or she saw them slap their
child in public. The more common forms of discipline now include
such things as "time out" where a child is set away
from others for a specified amount of time in order to be able
to think about what they did wrong and to decide that they are
ready to behave and apologize. This is usually a corner of an
empty room or somewhere where they have nothing to do but think
about their bad behavior. Is this trend away from physical discipline
also happening in France?
cry baby
noticed that a few Americans wrote regarding the fact that
well-behaved children don't cry, most likely because it is both
a bit embarassing for the mother/father and also simply because
it is annoying. For the French, is crying ususally a socially
frowned upon thing or is it just more of a nuissance that doesn't
really matter?