I found this article interesting. It has charts showing the traits parents most use to describe their babies (you can also access a PDF explaining the study more in-depth). The trait most used by Australian parents: happy. Before you click on the article, what trait would you think is most used by American parents to describe their babies?
ETA: People are sharing their answers and responses below, so don't read the comments yet if you want to be surprised!
eggplant / 11716 posts
yup. it's gotta be intelligent. I think I heard a similar study (or maybe the same one?) on NPR earlier this month.
eggplant / 11716 posts
Okay, so I just clicked on the link and I saw the answer. I'm pretty sure it's the same article that was discussed on NPR. I actually think it's really odd that we as americans are so obsessed with the idea that all of our children must be "gifted" or "intelligent", as in--more intelligent than average. When obviously, statistically that can't be true. The average person is...average.
As a teacher, I see the..ahem..."interesting" consquences of this societal trend every day.
grapefruit / 4120 posts
Interesting. Although I have to say I got sidetracked on the 6:30 bedtime thing and it was hard to divert my attention back to the article LOL
grapefruit / 4817 posts
Oh please say it isn't smart. But now that so many of you have guessed that, I'm thinking it will be. I'd describe my baby as "wild," but I doubt that's it.
bananas / 9357 posts
Before I scrolled down and looked at others responses, I would have guessed most americans would have said "smart". I would describe my baby as happy.
pomelo / 5000 posts
@Anagram: I remember learning about Piaget in ed. school and what he called the American question: how can we speed up the acquisition of these cognitive-stage milestones?
@SloaneandPuffy: am I remembering correctly that you live abraod? How do you think parents where you live would describe their children? Did anything ring true to you in the article?
@Bananapancakes: I love a wild child! Always entertaining.
squash / 13199 posts
For americans I guess "cute"
For british I guess "clever"
Now I am going to click on the link
grapefruit / 4120 posts
@Happygal: Yes, I live in Mexico. I actually looked up the original survey to see if there were any more countries represented but unfortunately not. I don't really know what the results would be here, but I'd guess smart would not be a big one, except maybe among a very small socioeconomic segment.
Probably "lindo" (sweet, but with a touch of cute/attractive) would be popular. That's probably the most common word people use about my son. Or calm. People also seem very likely to point out when a child is strong willed (or, possessing a strong character as they say here). I think Mexico would be most similar to Italy out of all these countries represented.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
I wouldn't have even thought about smart... I would have said happy, sweet, or cute!
grapefruit / 4120 posts
By the way I think the infographics are kind of misleading as the axes are not the same on all of them (percentages). But it's still pretty fascinating.
pineapple / 12053 posts
@sloaneandpuffy: i agree! some are 8% and others are 20%! big difference!
eggplant / 11716 posts
a follow up to this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emma-jenner/the-top-5-worst-mistakes-american-parents-make_b_3081456.html?utm_hp_ref=parents&ir=Parents
agree or disagree?
coconut / 8305 posts
I always think about demeanor, happy, calm, laid back, "easy", but I'm not at all surprised that Americans think "intelligent". I think this is 100% of the reason we're so caught up on milestones & the majority of us worry if our child isn't doing what another child the same age is doing... I think we compare each other horribly in this area!
@Anagram: I agree! Especially with the setting the bar too low! Knowing how to win & lose is SO important & I hate that my children no longer learn this in the sports they play outside of school... atleast not as young children.
pomelo / 5000 posts
@Anagram: about to have to dinner, but can't wait to read that article! Thanks for sharing. I'm really enjoying hearing everyone's responses.
grapefruit / 4819 posts
I just heard about this study recently as well so I knew that it was intelligent. I think it is somewhat accurate as it seems as though parents in the States are always comparing milestones, cognitive abilities, and trying to put their children in formalized learning environments earlier and earlier. Not placing judgment but just saying that I'm not surprised with the results.
I'm in Australia and I would agree with the survey saying Australians most use the word happy to describe their child. I am constantly being asked if LO is a happy baby (she is) and it is probably the word I use to describe her most often as well.
I think it stems from different cultural values (obviously). In the US, it's expected that everyone must have higher education degrees in order to be successful and have a good quality of life. In Australia, there's no stigma on not attending university and there are an awful lot of well respected, lucrative professions here that do not require a university degree. I like that approach - it recognizes that not everyone is well suited to book learning but that doesn't make them any less intelligent or capable of success than those with uni degrees. It's interesting to see how things differ so much between countries with supposedly similar values!
pomelo / 5178 posts
@Ree723: I thought it was interesting that Australians use "sensitive" a lot in describing their LOs. Do you think sensitive in that case is a positive (e.g. sensitive=caring, compassionate, etc...) or a negative (e.g. sensitive=whiney, inflexible, etc...)?
pomegranate / 3604 posts
I would say alert/intelligent.
Interesting since I'm right in the middle of bringing up bebe.
grapefruit / 4819 posts
@Honeybee: I think sensitive is used in the sense of being in tune with others' feelings and emotions and thinking about how your actions impact others (more for older children, not so much babies). It is definitely a trait that's being pushed here as part of the anti-bullying campaign.
pomelo / 5178 posts
@Ree723: Interesting! I just wasn't sure of the context, so it's helpful to hear what that means!
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