Whose Kids are They?
When I first heard of the New York Times editorial by American fashion designer Heather Kaye, I thought it would be another looney liberal expression of a misguided desire for authoritarian government control. Her opinion piece is titled, “China Helped Raise My American Kids, and They Turned Out Fine.” I figured the title told me all I needed to know and nearly stopped reading. Then I recalled the old adage, never judge a book by its’ cover, or in this case an article by its title. After reading the piece, I still believe Kaye is misguided—but she made some good points.
I lived overseas for twelve years and visited China three times. I have experience with the concerns Kaye encountered when faced with the choice between pricey international schools and local government ones. She and her husband weighed both and choose to enroll their children in the government schools where they would learn Mandarin, and Chinese culture, and have a broader perspective. Kaye mentions the “exposure to Communist Party propaganda” as a negative. However, for Kaye, the benefits outweighed the negatives.
From violence, school-assisted gender transition, boys in the girl’s showers, and dismal academic achievement, it is clear that American public schools have been radicalized and are an academic mess. The subject of American History has become an anti-American social studies course and lately has devolved into a study of supposed systemic racism in America. So, it was no surprise when I read that American fashion designer Heather Kaye raised her two daughters in Shanghai, China, and thinks Americans could learn from the Chinese approach. It surprised me that on some points we agreed.
What were the benefits? Kaye states that the school, “Constantly served up moral, history and culture lessons on pulling together for the sake of the Chinese nation, our girls came home discussing self-discipline, integrity and respect for elders. With school instilling a solid work ethic and a total drive for academic excellence, my husband and I didn’t need to push the girls to complete homework; the shame of letting their teachers and classmates down was enough to light their fires” and “China stresses that you can succeed—as long as you obey your teachers and work hard.” Much of this sounds like something from a century-old American textbook.
Later Kaye says, after nearly three years of COVID restrictions and not being able to see their extended family they decided to leave China and move to Washington, D.C. “In some ways, the culture shock coming home feels stronger than when we first arrived in China. We’ve returned to a divided America where many feel government has no place in our lives.” Then after the children returned to school, “They had their first live-shooter drill at school recently, and we’ve adjusted our senses to be on alert in a way we never needed to in Shanghai.” Street crime is not a problem in Shanghai.
As I look at my grandchildren I continue to be concerned about education. At one point Kaye says, “We sometimes felt as if our children were on loan to us for evenings and weekends, to be delivered back to school each weekday.” That is exactly what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) believes. However, it is also what the National Education Association (NEA) in the United States appears to think. Both systems are failing students but, for different reasons.
I don’t want to feel that my children or grandchildren are on loan from the government or school officials. Also, I don’t want anti-American or communist propaganda. However, it would be great to hear them come home from school discussing, “self-discipline, integrity, and respect for elders.” It would make me happy to know that they are being taught cultural lessons on pulling together for the sake of the nation. That despite the flaws this is a good country striving to be a better country and, in spite of what many on the left preach, there is nothing wrong with patriotism. I would find it refreshing to hear of a school that instilled, “a solid work ethic and a total drive for academic excellence.”
Do you have children in school? What ethics standards does their school teach? Have you considered moving them to another school? Why? Let us know in the comment section below.
