Seven Castles

"Little Emperors"

                                      

July 29, 2006

 

My mother was christened a Glorious Mother, as she gave birth to five children, answering the call by Mao who advocated Chinese people to get busy having as many children as they could in preparation for WWIII.

 

In the 1970s, with a steepest drop in fertility, a campaign of "One is good, two is OK and three is too many" was heavily promoted. However, in the 1980s, China's leaders undertook draconian measures to correct the problem of overpopulation by initiating a controversial one-child policy. Now that Chinese families are only allowed to have one child, you can bet they treat the kid like a little king or queen, especially if the kid happens to be a boy, in which case he is the last hope the parents have for carrying on the family line.

 

Hence, besides an alarming imbalance in the numbers of male and female children, one of the consequences of the one-child policy has been the emergence of the "little emperor" phenomenon. The term did not come into wide use in China until the 1990s. Today it is commonly used to refer to Chinese kids who are "raised in sugar water" and enjoy all the privileges that come with being the only children. These little tykes have been so pampered and spoiled by their parents that they run the risk of being incapable of doing anything themselves. They just sit around watching TV and playing video games; and if you dare to ask them to do a chore or anything worthwhile, they recoil in horror! They could be rude, self-centered, demanding and generally expect to be the center of attention.

 

Reform and opening up have exacerbated the "little emperor" phenomenon, as Chinese families have more money now than ever before, and are able to make sure that their kids are over-nutrition. Chinese kids are growing up taller and stronger than ever before. More and more Chinese kids, like their Western counterparts, are early-bloomers. Some "little emperors" have learned from their parents the fine art of pursuing expensive consumer lifestyles. Once they get to school they engage in juvenile competition to prove whose family is richer.

 

In Shanghai, often it is the grandparents who will pick up the child from school and then proceed to carry the child's bags. Another familiar sight is the family in the restaurant with the 6 adults taking turns to feed the "little emperor". Parents try all the possible means to make sure that their "little emperor" is going to get enough attention from the teachers in the school. They practice the ancient Chinese custom of flattery and giving gifts to win favor.

 

Anyway, being an only child is not the root cause. Instead of just complaining about the children's behavior, you should examine the cause of the problem, which is, of course, poor parenting.

 

As the one-child policy approaches the third generation, one adult child should support two parents and four grandparents. That must be a bigger social problem!

 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2006年07月29日 星期六 07:23】【 加入博采】【打印】