Our Babies Ourselves

This article was familiar to me because I've done a lot of prior research into childrearing practices around the world and studied many of them during my Lifespan Psychology course. It has always been a subject I found fascinating, which I guess is a bit odd since I don't plan on having children myself. Nevertheless, this article did a pretty good job explaining some of the major points of contention. I'm part of the group that thinks you should raise your child however you feel is right, and for me that is much like the author described the Dutch parenting style. Honestly I think there's something to it, considering Dutch children on average tend to be happier, more intelligent, and more successful in school. That being said, I'm not saying that any one style is better than another. There are a number of outside influences that would have to be the same for any sort of reliable comparison.

I found particularly interesting the early instillation of authority roles in Japanese parents, though I'm unsure what the basis of this is since most children do not begin to form even rudimentary memories until much later in development. I also liked the comparison of opinions on breastfeeding, something I'm an advocate of. I believe that it's a very important decision and should be child centered, like most of the non-Western cultures structure it. I believe there is an unfortunate lack of education and persistence on this issue in the United States, and while I respect womens' right to choose not to breastfeed, I hope that most will at least try.

Most of all, I liked the point about different caregivers. What makes it seem more responsible to leave your child with an nonrelated person than a sibling just because the nonrelated person is older? It's not something I had really considered, but Western cultures do seem to put a lot more emphasis on age than experience and competence. Sure, the younger siblings may be younger, but they watched their siblings care for them and have probably helped before.

I suppose mostly I feel like this is a series of issues that needs more objective unbiased research, or at the very least research with controlled outside factors, to be anything more than civil argument.