Other people's kids are 'rude', says survey

Wednesday 22 August 2007

While most parents are satisfied with the way they are bringing up their children, 75% are irritated by other people’s kids who are ‘rude, anti-social, secretive and disobedient’, according to a survey by J/M magazine.

Two-thirds of the parents questioned said a stricter approach is needed in bringing up children. When it came to primary schools, 89% said teachers should be tougher and exert more discipline.

Over half of the mothers and fathers questioned said schools should intervene if they felt parents were failing to bring up their children properly.

And while they feel themselves to be good parents, mothers said the biggest mistake they make is that they give in too easily and are not consistent. Fathers said they were sometimes too strict.

Making sure their kids are happy remains parents’ the top priority. But giving children a sense of responsibility and teaching them to be aware of the feelings of others are now nearly as important, says J/M.

This more social approach to raising kids is in contrast to the past, when personal development of the child was considered paramount, the magazine says.

Four in five parents feel their kids are growing up in a deteriorating society and are concerned about how safe their children are on the street, over-explicit sex on tv, tensions with Muslim communities, the threat of terrorism and pollution.

And while nearly all the parents who took part on the survey feel they have become better people as a result of having children, 20% admitted that they sometimes envy those without.

© DutchNews.nl

Get the DutchNews.nl newsletter in your mailbox: Click here to subscribe

Print-version

Readers' comments

Place your comments: