In p>1969, 41% of American children went to school by bike or on foot, but in 214 it dropped to about 18%

Every March, the release season of rattan schools is a great event in the world of "Chicken Baby". In recent days, with the admission results of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other famous schools being released one after another, the tide of "Chicken Baby" among parents and friends is getting higher and higher, and flowers and applause flock to "Chicken Baby".

This is an era when "chicken baby" prevails. In North America on the other side of the globe, parents are also caught in the anxiety of "chicken baby" in extracurricular classes, school choice, school district room and climbing vines.

The "chick-baby" parenting in North America began in the 199s, and the reason behind it is the breakup of the "American Dream". It is very difficult for the next generation in North America to surpass or at least keep their parents' class. According to New America 219 report, the income of millennials is 2% lower than that of their parents.

regardless of race, income and class, more and more North American parents have embarked on the road of "chicken baby", and they are all top-notch elite universities. Compared with the traditional free-range mode, "Chicken Baby" parenting has got rid of the traditional educational concept of encouraging children's independence and freedom in North America, and has been replaced by a parenting method with high participation, high investment and high control over children's life and study. The "chicken baby" in North America not only means giving children "chicken blood" to pursue Excellence, but parents should also do their best to solve problems for their children and strive to minimize the risks and failures on their growth path to ensure their success.

1

The core of "Chicken Baby" is talent.

Excellent academic performance is only the basic condition, and winning prizes in academic and talent competitions and strong leadership are the winning nuclear weapons.

The focus of North American parents' "chicken blood" is not academic performance, but the cultivation of specialty, talent and leadership advantages. This is related to the admission criteria of elite universities. To win the favor of elite universities, AP courses and excellent academic performance are only the basic conditions, and winning prizes in academic and talent competitions and strong leadership are the winning nuclear weapons.

The competition for admission to universities in North America is becoming increasingly fierce. Among the 5 most competitive universities in the United States, the enrollment rate dropped from an average of 36% in 26 to 23% in 218, and the enrollment rate of the top ten universities dropped even more. Therefore, it is difficult for North American children to have a rambling and happy childhood in the past, and their spare time is basically spent in extracurricular activities. However, extracurricular tutoring only accounts for a small proportion, and extracurricular activities such as academic competitions, art, sports and leadership training are the mainstream.

According to the data of Pew Center in 215, among North American families whose annual income exceeds $75,, 84% of their children take part in sports training, 64% have been volunteers, and 62% take music, dance or other art classes. Even in families with an annual income of less than $3,, 59% of children have volunteered, 37% have participated in sports activities, and 41% have taken art classes.

However, the process of cultivating talents is very long, and it needs all kinds of investment and professional judgment, which is not only the competition among children, but also the place where parents really "compete". The first step in cultivating talents is to discover children's "hidden talents". It's really a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack to discover children's advantage projects from dazzling interest classes. The only way is to try as soon as possible and try more.

The "chicken blood" battle of extracurricular activities started in kindergarten. Children usually start practicing gymnastics, swimming, ice sports and ball games at the age of three or four, and learn violin, piano and dance. In recent years, STEM (abbreviation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education has become popular. Many parents pay attention to developing young children's thinking of scientists and engineers. According to the survey of American Toy Association, 5% of parents think that children should start learning programming at the age of 5.

There are more extracurricular interest classes for primary school students. In order to avoid missing children's "talent projects" and not delay their becoming future scientists, pianists, dancers or sports stars, it is also common for a child to sign up for more than a dozen interest classes.

The busy schedule of primary school students in North America is comparable to that of CEO. My daughter has two mornings of school swimming team training every week. In the afternoon, after school, there are dance teams and drama trainings twice each; There are two trainings at the National Ballet Academy of Canada on weekends; There are also off-campus debate classes, fashion design, painting classes and so on every week.

Crazy extracurricular activities make children have little free time to play, and even it is difficult for the whole family to get together. My daughter's classmate's mother told me that it is rare for her family to have dinner together. There is a boy and a girl at home. My father takes my son to various sports training and competitions after work, and my mother takes her daughter to dance and drama interest classes after work, even on weekends.

The middle school stage is the peak of busyness. After a large-scale attempt in the primary school stage, the middle school stage began to narrow down the scope and gradually focused on the in-depth development of superior projects. This stage is also the most tangled, because how to choose and choose determines the success or failure in the future, which requires parents and children to discuss carefully and listen to various professional opinions.

According to the situation in Canada, children's talents and specialties still show ethnic characteristics. White people have the advantage in sports, including ice hockey, football, skiing, hockey and other sports, while children from Indian families have the advantage in science competitions and English competitions. The biggest advantages of Chinese children are piano, violin and academic competitions, while the Canadian Olympics and debate competitions are completely dominated by Chinese children.

2

Whatever it takes for a "perfect" childhood?

parents want to make their children pursue Excellence forever by supervising and controlling their children's life and study, leaving no room for mistakes, so as to ensure that they are in an invincible position in the competition.

The childhood in the free-range era is carefree, and parents have little participation in their children's life and study-children go to school by themselves, play with their peers by themselves, and learn to make their own choices and decisions. As Paul Fass, a professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley, said, Americans "give their children independence and flexibility because they believe that their children will have better possibilities and opportunities in the future".

However, in the era of "Chicken Baby", children's freedom and independence were greatly reduced. In 1969, 41% of American children went to school by bike or on foot. By 214, this figure had dropped to about 18%.

why is this?

Because parents want to give their children a perfect and infallible childhood-they should supervise and control their children's life and study, so that their children can always pursue Excellence and leave no room for mistakes, thus ensuring an invincible position in the competition.

an American scholar once said that the standard of "good parents" in the era of "chicken baby" is to provide all the best for children, not to let them feel sad and depressed, and not to let them fail.

In the era of "Chicken Baby", parents will spend more time with their children and even hover around them like helicopters. This will not only prevent their children from making mistakes to the greatest extent, but also help them solve problems immediately when they find them, especially when their children face difficulties, challenges and struggles. Parents can "cut down" obstacles that hinder their children's success like lawn mowers.

There are many full-time "helicopter mothers" in my daughter's school. They are scrambling to volunteer at school. The main purpose is to see their children's performance at school. Some mothers wish they could not stay at school most of the time so as to observe their children's every move all the time. They want to see if their children are serious in class; Whether there are children to play with during the break and whether they have fun; Did you have a good lunch? Have you been wronged at school? Once they found anything wrong, they immediately came to the rescue.

If two children quarrel at school, the "helicopter mothers" will immediately intervene. There have been cases where two mothers failed to negotiate and quarreled with the principal, but failed to achieve satisfactory results, and one of them angrily took her children out of school.

Children in Canada like to bring birthday cakes to share with the whole class. A mother found that the cream and icing on the cake were too thick, and immediately went to the headmaster angrily, saying that her daughter should keep in shape when learning ballet, and eating too much polysaccharide would make her fat.

Every time a school issues a report card, some parents are not satisfied with their children's grades, so they will find a teacher to bargain. This situation is even more serious in middle schools, because grades directly affect college applications.

It is even more important to run for sports teams and clubs in schools, especially those with fierce competition. Parents will find coaches or principals and ask their children to have a chance.

The "Chicken Baby" battle is not only a competition of children's academic talents, but also parents need to make every effort to ensure that their children have a childhood without failure. As Dr. Carolyn Dai Qi, the author of Anxiety Disorder: A Beginner's Guide, said, parents nowadays bear too much responsibility for their children's success or failure, and are even willing to do whatever it takes.

3

High-quality companionship requires money-breaker-like investment

The battle of "Chicken Baby" is not only a struggle for parents' time and knowledge, but also a struggle for parents' wealth

In 219, Dr. Patrick Ashzuka of Cornell University surveyed 3,642 American parents' parenting styles, and all the parents surveyed agreed that regardless of race, social status, economic status or education level.

"Fine parenting" requires a lot of high-quality companionship from parents to keep the children physically and intellectually stimulated at all times. A qualified "Chicken Baby" parent must be familiar with all kinds of parenting books, read with children, do crafts and games, help with homework, take children to interest classes, never miss children's concerts and competitions, and often ask their thoughts and feelings. When children make mistakes, they should be patiently and meticulously explained and discussed.

According to the American Time Use Survey, in 217, American parents spent twice as much time with their children as in the late 197s, especially those with college education. The time spent with parents increased by more than 9 hours per week, while those with low education only increased by more than 4 hours per week.

However, the cost and expense of "chicken baby" parenting is undoubtedly very expensive, not everyone can afford it, and the wealthy and highly educated families are dominant. The "Chicken Baby" war is not only the time and knowledge of parents, but also the wealth of parents. Sabino Cornrich, a sociologist at new york University, compared the increase in preschool education and extracurricular activities of families of different income classes, and found that the increase of wealthy families in this respect was far ahead. The Merrill Lynch report found that the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 in the United States now is as high as $23,, and according to the analysis of Town＆Country, the average child-rearing cost of wealthy families in new york is as high as $1.7 million.

An article in The New York Times lists all kinds of staggering "chicken baby" costs: Kindermusik baby music course, which costs as much as $68 per class; The retail price of the Wonder Workshop Dash coding robot for children is about 15 dollars. The Lego Mindstorms robot kit costs $34. The hourly salary of private music teachers in new york is about $5, that of extra-curricular tutoring is $8, and that of physical education is $1.

As the highlight of extracurricular specialty in North America, parents spare no effort to invest in it. The American youth sports industry can earn 5 billion dollars from parents every year. According to TD Ameritrade 216 survey, nearly 2% of American families spend more than $12, on sports per child every year. The survey also found that due to the large expenditure on sports training, 33% families could not save their pensions normally, and 4% families did not have emergency funds.

The cost of "chicken baby" naturally includes choosing a school, and more and more people choose private schools. About 18% of the 1.24 million children from kindergarten to grade 12 in new york attend private schools. About 42% of the families living in affluent Zone 2 (including Tribeca and Upper East Side) attend private schools. The top private schools in new york cost more than $5, a year. According to Business Insider's calculation, the total cost for these children to complete their primary and secondary education is $9,.

For parents who can't afford expensive private schools, the "school district" in public schools is the best choice. A recent survey in Realtor.com found that 73% of parents said they would choose school districts. The price factors of school district housing in the United States include standardized test scores, school rankings, university admission rate and Ivy League enrollment rate. The price of school district housing is often hundreds of thousands of dollars higher than that of ordinary real estate. Most of the most expensive top primary and secondary school districts in Realtor.com's list are in Los Angeles, California. The average selling price of the first primary school district is about $3.56 million, and the average selling price of the first secondary school district is $4.9 million.

4

What is the price of entering a prestigious school? Anxiety and depression are high?

Children's poor independent ability and great psychological pressure are two major disadvantages of "chicken baby" parenting

Experts generally believe that children who have been "chicken" can usually go to a good university and find a good job; But at the same time, they are more likely to suffer from psychological diseases such as depression or anxiety. There are also some studies that show that the reading gap between preschool students in rich and poor families is gradually narrowing as low-income parents increase their teaching and reading time for their children; With the increase of parental companionship and supervision, serious crimes against children have been greatly reduced.

However, it is a fact that the psychological problems of children and adolescents in North America have become increasingly serious in recent years. According to an article in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology in 219, between 29 and 217, the depression of adolescents aged 14 to 17 increased by more than 6%, and that of those aged 12 to 13 was 47%. Between 27 and 217, the suicide rate of American teenagers increased by 56%, and now it has become the second leading cause of death among American young people. A survey by the American College Health Association found that 21.6% of college students were diagnosed with anxiety in 217.

Many theoretical and empirical studies believe that the culprit is "chicken baby" parenting. Psychologists' research has found that children who have been "chicken" are often under great psychological pressure, and their independent ability is poor, making them more anxious and less satisfied with life. In other words, the two most obvious disadvantages of "chick-baby" parenting are poor independence and great psychological pressure.

"Chicken Baby" parenting has got rid of the traditional educational concept of encouraging children's independence and freedom in North America, and has been replaced by a parenting method with high participation, high investment and high control over children's life and study. Parents have complete control over their children's study and life.