Why don’t American kids respect their parents more?  by on
November 26, 2007 at 7:03 am in Education | Permalink  First,
you are welcome to challenge the premise that there is in fact
less respect for parents in the United States.  But if it were
true, what might be the possible mechanisms?  1. American
parents have less time to discipline their kids, in part because
women are more likely to work, wages are higher, and there is a
general rush and hurry.  2. American culture is less closely
tied to the entire notion of hierarchy and respect, whether or
not kids are in the picture.  3. The American divorce rate is
relatively high.  4. Balance is difficult, and a tipping point
requires that someone be in charge.  In America that is the
kids, although the underlying reasons for this difference may be
quite small.  5. America is saturated in mass media, and that
culture encourages the independence of the child, most of all
because children are prime viewers of TV and drivers of Nielsen
ratings.  6. Americans are m