Schwarzenegger describes abuse

"It was just the way it was. Many of the children I've seen were broken by their parents, which was the German-Austrian mentality.

"Break the will. They didn't want to create an individual. It was all about conforming."

http://www.thisislondon.com/showbiz/articles/12347467?source=PA

Sounds a lot like Repuke mentality to me.

I'm glad he's talking about it. I hear that Danish mothers are the worst. Though the Danes that talked about their mothers use to have an almost sad, comical way of reflecting on their childhood.

Children who expressed individualism were frowned upon as brats. Remember the adage about children being seen and not heard? I was often told this by a very proper British major, whom I must have annoyed with my boisterousness. I often remember as a child the non-American passengers on board ships clucking about how badly behaved the American children were, running around, talking loudly, and in general enjoying themselves.

This applies to SOME, not all. I see SOME children in coffee shops, in restaurants, and even on board ships on which I have sailed that are completely out of control. They feel that they can touch anything, destroy anything, make as much noise as they want even in quiet settings such as church or a restaurant, and the parents sit there and smile. I don't believe in harsh corporeal punishment but I do think parents should raise children to have utmost respect for others. Children naturally feel they are the center of the world, but parents should teach them that they are not. I think people should be raised to have great humility and to tread lightly. Allowing children to do whatever they want, I think, leads to their development as adults who are filled with hubris and arrogance, who think the sun rises and sets on themselves, and who never take responsibility for their actions. In others words: Republicans.

In latin american countries, unity and co-operation is vital for survival. In the U.S., individual success is more important. The difference between the two is illustrated in a simple test that was conducted between children in the U.S. and indian peasants in latin america. The study involved a checkerboard with one checker piece. The test giver told the children that they would each be taking turns moving the piece across the board in any direction. The one who made it to the edge on their turn, would get a prize. Here's the difference between the two groups:

The American children would compete against each other and kept the piece away from the edge so the other player would not win. They grew frustrated with the game and with each other.

The latin american children grew bored with the game, because they co-operated with each other and took turns allowing the other to win. They accumulated so many prizes that they wanted the test to finish so they could play with their new toys.

The other bonding force in latin america is a mutually understood concept of Catholic Christianity. People actually are kinder to one another because their religion translates into business dealings and every existence of their life. (there ARE excpetions) In the U.S., Christian good works is lip service. People are very calculating in their charities to ensure that only people they find deserving get their money or donation. It's sad. And it's self-deception.

American father. I was taught manners, but I wasn't slapped down into their vision of a proper senorita like I would have if my father had also been Latin American. I was allowed breathing room and I also had the opportunity to observe the good things and the follies in the parenting cultures of both systems.

I wasn't necessarily talking about Latinos though even though this was on board ships between here and South America, but Europeans, especially the eastern Europeans. This was right after WWII and there were a lot of displaced people and Germans moving around trying to make new lives for themselves. They were very hard on their kids.

The British weren't very nurturing of their children either. Most of them would ship their kids off to English boarding schools when they were seven, maybe only seeing them on holiday two or three times before they turned sixteen.

I almost forgot because I was raised under the American standard, while my sister was raised with stricter latin american restrictions. The restrictions resulted in a very rebellious teen who also underachieved in school. My mother conceded to allowing looser American standards with me. I was even more rebellious, until high school when I suddenly became a suzy good shoes. Can't explain why, exactly.

And you're right about the brits. They did ship their kids off to school relatively early.

I find American kids okay as a whole. This is from a campground host who has seen them at their wildest.

He could still be rehabilitated, and become a functioning member of society

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