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Polish child-parent relations?


Polonius3  980 | 12275  
10 Jul 2010 /  #1
How would you compare child-parent relations in Poland and the West? Are Polish teens just as toxic and disrespectful towards their parents and other adults as their American counterparts? Does a wall of alienness separate many adult children from their middle-aged or ageing parents, where each side live a life on their own with little interaction?

What inspired this question was Europe's present heat wave being reproted by CNN. I recall the one of 2003 when in France alone 15,000 elderly people died of excessive heat. The authorities had quite a time trying to track down the heat victims' children fo funeral arrangements. When finally found, some of them said about their mothers: 'You mean to say she was still living?'

The Western model comrprises nurseries, infant schools, nannies for youngsters, a drift-apart syndrome in the adolescent-adult phase and old people's homes towards the end of the road. I beleive in Poland there is still the institution of a 'babcia' as child-minder and more people tkaing care of their eldlerly rather than shipping them off to a 'dom opieki'.

But, as with everything, things are probably gradually evolving ('Western is trendy!?') in the direction of the Western model of child-parent estrangement. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Seanus  15 | 19666  
10 Jul 2010 /  #2
Beware of the great deception! I'd say that it is natural to argue here amongst some young children but it is more of a convention that any real heated affair. Nothing to worry about!

The boomerang generation is a sociological phenomenon here. When they leave the nest, there is a real chance that they will return due to the pressures of life. Therefore, it is not in their interests to rock the boat and disrupt the harmony. So again I say, don't think that they are fighting with their olds as it is sth expected here and it's a good thing. Poles state their position and they don't like fence-sitters.

Some kids turn to drugs and still their parents don't instantly disown them. They know that it isn't part of the broader culture and they are able to be 'rescued'. My final word, don't underestimate the family-oriented culture here. They are tight knit!
George8600  10 | 630  
10 Jul 2010 /  #3
Are Polish teens just as toxic and disrespectful towards their parents and other adults as their American counterparts

I wouldn't say so. I would say that there is more tradition and respect to family values than here in America. But then again when Polonia becomes 'americanized' who knows...

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