Little Emperors

Elwin and I were walking along a beautiful tree-lined street in Jinan one afternoon when we saw some commotion up the road. Lots of people, mostly young parents and old grandparents, were gathering around a building anticipating something. We stayed to observe what was going on. Then, it happened…the school children started coming out of the building. They were laughing and, in general, very happy to get out school. The commotion was the parents and grandparents trying to pick them up. Some children had as many as 3 or 4 adults picking them up.

Then I noticed a big marquee in front of the school, which said: “Parents, please do not stop in front of the school. You may be blocking the traffic.” That reminded me of an article a dear friend of mine sent me a few weeks ago. To witness this first hand was so amazing. Please follow the link to the article if you are interested. I’m also including some pictures to let you see for yourself an interesting phenomenon happening in the great country of China.

Psychology Today Magazine, Jul/Aug 2008
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-20080623-000004&print=1

Plight of the Little Emperors

Cuddled from infancy and raised to be academic machines, China's only
children expect the world. Now they're buckling under the pressure of
their parents' deferred dreams.
-By: Taylor Clark