It is always interesting when we walk down the street and people start counting the boys. I hear gasps of “3 children!” Then they give me a thumbs up and say something to the effect that I am an amazing woman.
There are a lot of implications to the one-child policy, and most of them are negative in my opinion. The children born after that policy was implemented are raised in an environment where they are both pampered and pressured. They do no work and lack skills to do most things independently, and with only one child there is a lot of pressure for perfection which is channeled through academic and extra curricular performance. Kids know at a very early age (9 or 10) that there is no time for playing – that there time from 8-4 is in school; 4-7 is extra lessons in math, science, sports, instruments, etc. and 7-11 is homework time. They are even serious about things that don’t impact your life in the long run – like ping pong. It breeds a group of people that are educated, but cannot do much with the knowledge that they have acquired. They never work on teams so they don’t know how to collaborate, and they have never had to figure anything out. So unless you can give instructions on every detail of a project – it often can’t be completed by the person. In most companies all of the middle to upper management is either Chinese educated in the U.S. or American.
The system perpetuates itself. You have to study hard and memorize or you can't pass the state exams with a high enough score. If you don't have the high score there is no place for you at university. No where does an university ask about projects you've done, your ability to get along with others, or test your ability to figure things out independently, your ability to be creative....just math, Chinese, science, English, etc.
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