Die Welt Am Sonntag ran
my first German-language article a couple weeks ago. It's an original piece, written by me in English, and translated by their staff. Some highlights in English:
Modern
parents see their children as their most important investments. They want their children to succeed in the
competitive world of the future - and know that success isn't cheap. Before your kids can succeed in the world of
work, they must first succeed in the world of school. Massive parental investment of time and money
seems crucial. Without it, won't your
children fail in both worlds? Indeed, parenting
seems so important that parents appear to face a tragic trade-off: To ensure your
children's academic and professional success, you often have to push them so
hard that they end up resenting you.
But:
The surprising lesson of the science of success is that parents' toil
bears little fruit. Your kids would have
been about as successful in school and work if they'd been raised by a very
different family.
This
doesn't mean that severe child neglect or abject poverty is harmless. Twin and adoption studies focus on normal
families that meet their children's basic needs. Researchers' don't ask, "Would this child
have turned out differently if he were raised by wolves?" They ask, "Would this child have turned our
differently if he were raised by one of the other families we studied?" When researchers report "no effect of family
income on education," this doesn't mean that hungry kids learn as well as kids
with full bellies. It means that even
the poorest families under observation were good enough to allow their children
to reach their potential.
The life lesson to take away:
Twin and adoption research seem like handy
excuses for lazy parents. But scaling
back misguided investments isn't "lazy"; it's common sense. If your children's future success is largely
beyond your control, riding them "for their own good" is not just wasteful, but
cruel. The sentimental view that parents
should simply cherish, encourage, and accept their children has science on its
side. Modern parents need to calm down
and reconceive family time as leisure, not work. Having fun with your children may not prepare
them for the future, but there are few more rewarding ways to spend your time.
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Herzliche Glückwünsche dazu!
Is "abject poverty" a relative term? It seems like its' meaning can vary greatly among people.
I read it and I'm definitely not a big fan of GMU and Mercatus "scholars". But this one was really good and I liked it. The only thing I object to was the reference to eugenics. This subject is hot in Germany due to Thilo Sarrazin. Too many people subscribe now to debunked eugenic theories.
Byran, I hope they end up translating that into Chinese, Korean and Japanese. They have made pushing their children to the extremes a cultural thing.
I live in Singapore and see it all around me, however when I point out to my local friends that I have a diploma from a community college not even related to my field and yet I am successful, the point never seems to hit its mark.