Madam! In the world of Rights of Children being given too much of importance things have changed a lot in terms of guiding or mentoring a child in the School or College atmosphere. With the fear that the boy or girl may commit suicide, Parents are leaving the kid to his own sweet will by providing whatever the child wants. With the fear of TV9 or NTV exposure teachers are leaving the kids to their own fate giving all the freedom they want, With the fear that the child may drop out of school Government has brought the Law which allows no detention upto 8th class in School. This no detention is extended in letter and spirit upto 10th class with a pass percentage of 94% and above. Only those who did not sit for the 10th class exam fail. very large hearted colleges who do not want their fee reimbersement to be lost due to detention promote the student to next class. Let him not learn anything, why should any one bother. Let the Kid move to the next class and get his degree with more than 80% marks. Let him be pushed on to the bazar and give him freedom to market himself. Who cares if he or she would not a get job. Great movement is on Madam. Let them enjoy life.Let the ENJOY!

Hello, to Profs. Grover and Chellapilla,

Happy New Year.

I benefit greatly from cross-cultural discussion such as this and understand how each comes to his or her position from a wealth of experience.

In terms of perceiving  a situation so fraught with complexity in our global environment, we happily can pick what is best and most useful in each others' answers.  My husband, who is an astronomer, calls this a parallax view.  When they are watching for asteroids that might hit the earth, nobody makes a judgment at Minor Planets Center, Cambridge, MA, on basis of one astronomer's telescopic observation of an asteroid alone.  They calculate speed and trajectory, etc. etc. more and more correctly the more sightings come in as follow-up observations.

Analogously, no one observation of child rearing is false or true as it pertains to later school experiences, but all add pieces needed to proceed and create curricula.  I hope this adds something.

So happy to read this discussion, since children form the future.

This is emic type of practice of child rearing, which is culture specific not comparable.

I strongly agree with Dr Kiran Grover's statement. It was correct when I was a student in school, boy in my home. But today the scenario was completely changed, i didn,t observe this type of atmosphere in school and house.

Thank you all,

I think that the different cultures have different behaviours in their citizens. This is not new. Why do some cultures give more or less rich or poor citizens? The reality is that this an observable truth.

I believe the traditional indian/sub continental rearing is not very common now, especially in the urban areas. We follow or rather try to follow western methods in all walks of life and as the family nucleus is getting smaller, children do not now live with grand parents or extended families. Similarly class rooms differ widely depending upon the amount of fees charged and the curricular perspectives they are following resulting in different social classes being re in forced. A very strong class system has been put in place with deleterious consequences.

Child rearing practices are not consciously followed in Indian culture. These are rather conventional copied from elders to younger parents.  in western countries it is conscious and planned by parents and community. in fact child psychology followed in Indian society is self discovered and mixture of number of approaches, where as in western societies they follow a some well structured psychological  approaches. Indians are much more concerned about caring and affection of the child and tend to endorse the child as absolutely right irrespective of the context of thoughts ans actions. Justice is considered  done if it makes child happy whatever may be the consequences on other object or subject. We don't find such flattering in western societies as I believe. 

Kameswara Rao Chellapilla,

Thanks for sharing your point of view.

Gloria Lee Mcmillan Madam,

Thanks for you,giving that point no one observation of child rearing is false or true,you should explain through own life experiences,thanks a lot,Madam.

Subhash C. Kundu Sir,

Thanks for giving suggestion so child rearing is not comparable in different environments.

Geddada Mohan Narasimha Rao Sir,

Thanks for giving answer with own life experiences.

Mariano Ruiz Espejo sir,

Thanks for discuss observable truth.

Syed Asghar Naqi Sir

Thanks for sharing my point of view with own explanation.

Vijay Grover Sir,

Thanks for discuss your point of view,western parents followed psychological approaches in child rearing practices but Indian parents followed mixture of number of approaches.

Dear Kiran,

First all the best for you and your family for 2017.

Your question contains a contradiction in itself. The Indian cultural circle differs completely from the European cultural circle and thus education of the children also. This must be so. This is neither bad nor good, but in principle not comparable.

The ultimate goal is to prepare the children with training and education for the life of an adult so that they can cope with life, provide for their livelihood and those of their families, and perhaps give back little bit to society as well. In India, the competition is great and so is respect, so I believe an important point of training and education.

The later adults have to find in the Indian society their way.

This of course also applies to German children who have to find their way into German society. There is something similar, for the education to respect, tolerance, love and honor of the parents and respect for the neighbors are important elements which should be valid in both cultures.

Have a good time

Michael Lersow

Michael Lersow Sir,

Thanks for sharing your point of view.

Subhash C. Kundu,

I am agree with you completely.

For me, who I was allowed to get to know India a bit, it would be interesting to see their concrete view of things.

Best wishes

Michael Lersow

A great debate for cultural relativism and awareness workshops & practices to be taught to those working in education & institutions. 

A recent chapter I requested on this site is:

Daphne Gross-Manos “The Role of Peers in Children’s Lives and Their Contribution to Child Well-Being:  Theory and Research

Nicky Graves Ji,

thanks for giving information.

Resp. Dr. Grover,

The pattern of nurturing a child depends on the individual. That is, it depends on the understanding of the parents. 

I follow the opinions put forth by Subhash C. Kundu  sir and Palak Vyas  sir..

Comparing child-rearing policies in an environment which does not have concrete policy to an environment that does is not honestly possible. Preparing a child for a functional, participatory role in their society which contributes rather than collects from it should be the goal. There is something to be learned from and by both eastern and western school systems, but they will never fit into a direct comparison without a great deal of data manipulation, otherwise known as academic dishonesty. Early in my academic 'career' I studied to become a history teacher, and made it nearly to the point where I would start student teaching. Education laws in my country changed in the mid 2000's, which have proven to have some of the effects described in this forum such as social promotion, teachers fearing students and having their careers ruined by lack of student effort, and the difficulty in holding students accountable for their actions or lack of effort. I left the teaching program because I did not want to have to contend with the difficulties of gambling my career and my family's financial security on students who cannot or will not achieve in the classroom. I am what my country calls liberal socially, but financially conservative, and more of my policy approaches come from the latter than the former. I have difficulty relating to students who refuse to work or pull themselves up by their own efforts to fit in with the historical American culture of work and achievement through rugged individualism. Expecting promotion solely because they exist and stumble into class more often than they do not is not a formula for long term success, and as children are indeed the future our prospects are not looking good if current trends continue. Since No Child Left Behind has been fully implemented, more children have been left behind then ever before due to teachers' fears of funding loss due to low test scores causing them to let all their students pass.

I would like to know more about how the Indian school system works, or doesn't work depending on your point of view. I'll admit I have never tried to learn anything about it, which is an oversight in a prospective educator, even if not a direct classroom teacher. In an age of increasing globalization, an aspiring public servant needs to be able to serve everyone, and knowledge of an entirely foreign education system could be useful in understanding students who were raised in that environment.

Dear Kevin R. Waller! Your response is a refined and modestly put reply. I fully agree with and appreciate the following paragraph of your response:

"I have difficulty relating to students who refuse to work or pull themselves up by their own efforts to fit in with the historical American culture of work and achievement through rugged individualism. Expecting promotion solely because they exist and stumble into class more often than they do not is not a formula for long term success, and as children are indeed the future our prospects are not looking good if current trends continue. Since No Child Left Behind has been fully implemented, more children have been left behind then ever before due to teachers' fears of funding loss due to low test scores causing them to let all their students pass". 

That is exactly my concern too! But Dr. Kiran Grover did not even acknowledge my response and concern because she did not probably like it.

Palak Vyas Madam,

Thanks for giving your point of view.

Vijay More Sir,

Thanks for indulging in discussion.

Kevin R Waller sir,

Thanks for sharing your valuable thinking,I also agree with your opinion,Education system is very much responsible for students behavior.

Kameswara Rao Chellapilla sir,

 I  feel Sorry for responding one,I fully agree with your response,education system is responsible for students future.