[btarunr]

The part where American parents are not allowed to bring up their kids by mending them is laughable. I mean just slapping on the head could send the parent to jail? What a joke. When I was a kid, my dad used to be my tutor when preparing for exams, school tests, etc. He used to cane me, trash me, slap me, et al. It's kosher. Eventually I achieved a lot of academic success. A lot of Indian parents behave the same way, the kids here are brought up that way but that goes well. The way we define parenting is that the parent(s) has complete control over the way they/he/she brings up the children, even law can't intervene unless there's abuse which is investigated and proven true. Otherwise nothing stops my dad from caning me, I did NOT mind.....this instilled a very important quality in me, humility. Whereas due to the increased influence of western culture on ours, I have seen several urban families treat their kids the way westerners do, their kids are epic fail, bunch of snobs, and what not. The crux of it all is.

1. It's not that you NEED to beat your kid, there are American kids who never even need a scolding and go on to become excellent individuals with great academic, professional, moral, social records ; but not all parents get such kids.

2. I admit I was a jerk when I was a kid, but my being a jerk was corrected effectively by my dad. He says that a parent is a potter and a kid is like wet clay. When the clay is wet, you have to mould it carefully once it goes into the kiln and gets hard, you can't mould it and have to break it. Bottom line, my dad's ploy worked.

3. TV...outdoor activities play a key role in shaping a person, not just that he/she becomes physically fit, but mentally tough when dealing with people in real life outside. A person cannot learn how to socialise from a stupid Facebook account though he interacts with real people there too. A guy can abuse me on Facebook and run away, the same guy cannot face me and abuse me....else he'd watch me do a biopsy of him.

4. American parents have to be a lot more empowered than they are now, by the law. The kids have to learn to put the parents are authoritative figures in their lives, else it will hurt the future of America, its kids.