A good parent is someone who / Un bon parent est quelqu'un
ChaLing - 08:48pm Oct 20, 2004
I feel that in America it is more acceptable for a parent to be their child's "friend" than in France, and that the discipline aspect of parenting is more respected in France.
Alejandro - 11:41pm Oct 21, 2004
The difference that caught most of my attention was that Americans mentioned "unconditional love" or a similar idea seven times, while the French did not mention it once. I hypothesize that the French believe "unconditional love" is ridiculous, or at least not adequate for the formation of a child. It could go back to the concept of discipline, which is unconsistent with unconditional love. Or is it? Is anything I said true? Of course, I want an explanation from the French side now.
Pascal - 10:35am Oct 22, 2004
Pour un Americain ou pour un Francais un bon parent est quelqu'un qui aime ses enfants et qui les aide et les soutient dans les moments difficiles. Les Americains ou les Français ont la même conception du rôle parental dans l'éducation de l'enfant. Cela est sûrement du au faite que nous vivont tout les deux dans un pays au système capitaliste.
patricia - 11:18am Oct 22, 2004
je ne suis pas sur que les américains aient la même vision du rôle parentale que les français. En effet il me semble que les français éduquent de façon plus rigoureuse, avec plus de tradition que les américains qui eux laissent leurs enfants plus libres et les responsabilisent sans doute plus
Audrey - 11:21am Oct 22, 2004
Pour les français, un bon parent est un parent qui aime ses enfants est qui les accompagnent dans les différences étapes de sa vie. Pour les français, la notion d'amour inconditionnel est compris dans la notion de parent (enfin me concernant) cela explique peut etre pourquoi les français n'ont pas citer ce terme.
Brian - 09:45pm Oct 24, 2004
I'm not quite sure I'd agree with Patricia's view - I think the educational rigors imposed on American children are at least as strong as those in France. There's a lot of emphasis of education as an indicator of success - whether or not you are actually successful. Does that make any sense? I think that the role of parents in the United States is very similar to that of most cultures, with probably the one visible difference being that American parents are expected to 'let go' of their children earlier than in most cultures that I'm aware of.
Esther - 11:09pm Oct 24, 2004
I agree with Brian in that the role of parents in the US is pretty common across different cultures. I'm curious as to why the "unconditional" aspect of love is implied (as Audrey put it) when the French speak of parents' love for their children, and why Americans choose to explicitly state it.
Aparna - 09:18pm Oct 25, 2004
According to a 2000 research study conducted for the National Family and Parenting Institute, most children believe that if their parents are not getting along it affects them, but about 1/2 said that their parents should not stay together for the sake of their children. What do French adolescents think about divorce?
Xiaojie - 11:03pm Oct 25, 2004
According to Public Agenda, http://www.publicagenda.org/press/press_release_detail.cfm?list=49, 66% of parents in the United States feel they have not done a good job of teaching their kids discipline. 90 % of parents attributed their failure to television programs and popular culture in general. How does popular culture in France influence the role of the parent, or affect the difficulty of parenting?
Tufool - Nuaimi
I don't think that American parents are less strict than French parents with their children. Their way differs from family to family even within the same cultures. I also think that different parents raise their children differently, and their is a lot of "tradition" involved. You can tell because even when a kid is in college, far away from home, they carry the "culture" they've been brought up with them. I've noticed this a lot here, at MIT, in terms of how people's rooms are decorated, the food they cook, and the different international events throughout the year, and so much more. I guess the way a parent decides to raise their family differes from family to family, but there's isnt a single "right way" to do it.
a - 07:58am Oct 26, 2004
Les parents représentent énormément pour les français et pour les américains. Les américains donnent une éducation plus souple que les français. Cependant les traditions familiales sont davantages respectées aux Etats-Unis. En France on parle peut-être davantage de sentiments qu'aux Etats-Unis.
Lauren - 10:47am Oct 26, 2004
the actual word "parent" seems to appear much more frequently on the MIT side than on the French side. why is this? On the French side it seems much more important that children behave well according to general rules where as on the American side the idea seems to be more that they should behave according to the subjective rules set by the parents. I wonder if there is a tacit agreement assumed amongst French people, whereas here some people think it's okay to bring potentially crying babies to movies and some people don't.
Alejandro - 05:07pm Oct 27, 2004
I must admit I don't know too many americans below the age of 8, but here in my dorm (Simmons) the housemasters have a boy that might be 8 or 10, and he's really annoying. He's loud, he responds rudely to his mother, he throws things around the halls sometimes, etc. Most of the kids I know back home are not like that. So is this kid special? Or is he the average American 8-year-old? I definitely think his parents should have been stricter with him.
Aparna - 10:50pm Oct 27, 2004
I agree with Lauren. I also noticed that for the French, a well brought up child is raised to be polite and well behaved in public. For Americans, the focus seems to be more on the parents.
Aparna - 10:59pm Oct 27, 2004
I found an interesting French suvey done on the equality of the roles each parent plays in raising a child. 76% of the French think that mothers and fathers play an equal role in raising a child. Is this more/less than in the US? What do others think?
Aparna - 11:00pm Oct 27, 2004
Here's the website - http://www.ifop.com/europe/sondages/opinionf/peres.asp