The Japanese believe that a child under the age of 5 is a god. Everything is allowed and forgiven to him. The only thing that the elders can afford is to look sternly at the mischievous person or warn him: they say, your actions are dangerous. But as soon as the baby grows up a little, the attitude towards him changes exactly the opposite - God turns into a powerless slave who, for ten long years, has to obey the most severe rules, restrictions and prohibitions …
And only when the little house slave turns 15 years old - they begin to treat him as an equal. By this time, the teenager has become the ideal "cog" for the exemplary system - law-abiding and unquestioningly fulfilling his duties.
It is not customary for the Japanese to be proud of the success of their children, publicly or covertly to praise or scold them. The task of parents is to make the child an integral part of society, to teach the child not to attract attention to himself and not to strive for leadership. A Japanese woman who sent her offspring to kindergarten in order to pursue a career is called an egoist here. Men who are engaged in the material support of the family do not take any part in the educational process.
State children's institutions are conscientiously engaged in the upbringing of small modern Chinese people. The mission of parents is to help certified educators "mold" an obedient, unassuming, hardworking citizen who is content with only the bare essentials. In kindergarten, children are already three months old, and in elementary school - at one and a half years old.
Girls, who until recently were considered almost useless creatures, today study on a par with boys, and they acquire the ability to count, write, draw and speak almost simultaneously.
The situation when a baby waits for her mother at the exit of the store for two hours or trains her willpower by giving up her favorite “tasty treat” is in the order of things. Children in China are not spared - as soon as the kids have done their homework, they are immediately puzzled with additional loads. Blind obedience, strict discipline and fanatical industriousness in this country are the three pillars on which the material well-being of the nation rests.
One of the classics once joked that in England dogs are loved more than children. There is some truth in this joke. The main task of English educators is to raise "iron" ladies and gentlemen from kids, and adult prim Englishmen do not express emotions not only towards strangers. Intra-family relationships are also not revelatory.
English grandmothers do not know what “babysitting grandchildren” is, as they have their own personal lives, which no one has the right to encroach on. All that aging English ladies are capable of is to gather the whole family at one table for Christmas or to spend a couple of days a year with the kids. Parents, too, are not too sentimental in relation to their offspring, but they show enviable zeal, doing their duty: they feed - wate, dress and take care that their child gets into a decent school.
When the little Englishmen grow up, they, purposeful and independent, are sent on a free voyage.
