It seems like the American side deals more with the emotions of a good parent, such as love, care, etc whereas the French side deals more with the role of parents, in raising their children well. Of course parents here teach their children the difference between right and wrong and so on. It seems like we are primarily concerned with the happiness of our children first whereas French parents are concerned with other people's happiness regarding their child, by teaching them good manners, morals and so on. Are there things that French parents teach their children that you think are unique to your culture?

For the most part it seems to me like the French and the Americans have the same
criteria for what a good parent is. There are subtle differences between the
responses though, I think. Some of the American's responses seem to imply that
a good parent should give the child space to grow: "understanding", "supports
and guides, but also leave room to make mistakes and let their child learn from
them", "uses a certain amount of discipline", "encourages exposure to as many
things as possible." The French however seemed to have responded with a more
general idea of what a good parent should do, like giving the child good
morals, teaching them well, not hindering their developement. I feel that
since parenting is such an opinionated and personal activity and there are
so many different views on it, I cannot make an accurate general statement
about this. Does anyone else notice subtle differences between the two groups
of responses?

It seems to me that a "good parent" in america is focused on loving thier kids. They support them, listen to them and care about them. On the french side, it seems like a "good parent" makes their child a good person. This isn't to say that the french love their kids any less, I am sure its pretty universal that parents love their kids, but the french try to teach their kids to be good citizens. (I think that americans want their kids to be good citizens too, but its implied- like love is for you guys)
I hope that makes sense. I think the difference is a little subtle (I agree with Rian) because everyone loves their kids, and everyone wants their kids to be good people... but we emphasize different things.

I agree with the comments other MIT students have posted, and thought that perhaps French parents see their parenting duties as raising citizens of the world (more focused on how their family interacts with the outside), whereas American parents see their duties more as raising family members (more focused on the immediate family unit). Is this true in day-to-day interactions between French parents and their kids, or just when you're asked to think about a well-educated child?

Because the French place such an emphasis on education of a child, I was wondering if the French ever have stereotypical/cultural problems with their youth? For example, in America, it is believed and accepted that teenagers will be delinquents and disobedient. They will have sex, do drugs, drink and drive, etc. Of course, those are stereotypes, but at the same time, they do represent a real problem. For children, Americans are constantly wondering about the effects of things like video games and violence on children, bullying in schools, the effects of living in a high-tech environment. All in all, it just seems like American youth have a lot of problems. I was wondering if it's the same in France?

Shriddha, je ne pense vraiment pas que le point que tu as mis en avant soit une différence entre nos deux cultures car, les « bonnes manière française » sont juste représentées dans les films comme la baguette de pain et le béret (quoique pour la baguette, c’est sûrement vrai…comment s’en passer ?).
Plus sérieusement, même si nos parents nous apprennent les valeurs de la vie, comme les vôtre, ce n’est pas au dépit de l’amour et de l’affection. Là encore, je pense que l’apprentissage des parents dépend de chaque individu, et est plutôt dû au milieu social ou au lieu de vie (ville/campagne) qu’à la culture entre nos deux pays à proprement parlé. Car il est évident que si on prend en compte la culture des différentes communautés au sein de nos pays, les différences sont claires. En ce sens, je ne vois pas ce que nos parents pourraient nous apprendre que d’autres aux USA ne pourraient pas et vice-versa. Pas besoin de changer de pays pour cela. Qu’en penses tu ?

En ce qui concerne la jeunesse française, elle ne me semble pas être si différente qu’aux USA…Il y a vraiment tout type de rébellion dû à l’éducation, au système ou simplement à la personnalité : ceux qui se droguent, boivent, mais aussi « les gothiques », les « lolitas » (qui se transforment en petite femme à string à 12 ans et qui couchent facilement) ou encore les « pro ana » (dont le mode de vie est de ne pas manger du tout !!!). Quelle société n’a pas de problème avec sa jeunesse? Pensez vous vraiment que tout cela est dû aux parents ?
Certes, ils jouent un rôle essentiel, mais aucun parent n’est « parfait ». N’y a-t-il pas aussi, et surtout d’après moi, le rôle des médias à prendre en compte…Comment être un bon parent quand nos enfants sont conditionnés par ce qu’ils voient à la télévision, les magazines et les jeux vidéo auxquels ils jouent ?

En réponse à Shriddha, je ne pense pas qu’il y ait des valeurs spécifiques qui sont inculquées aux enfants par leurs parents. L’éducation des enfants est relativement similaire dans les pays « développés » tels que la France ou les Etats-Unis.
En réponse à Gina et aux autres, je pense que l’amour est en effet un point essentiel dans l’éducation des enfants y compris en France. Mais ce n’est pas le seul point. Il est certain que les parents doivent aimer leurs enfants, mais ils ne doivent pas oublier que c’est leur éducation qui conditionne ce que leurs enfants seront plus tard. C’est pour cela qu’un bon parent est forcément quelqu'un qui montre à ses enfants les bonnes valeurs à suivre, pour qu’il puisse au fur et à mesure s’intégrer dans la société.

To Floriane, I like the terms you called the French teens such as "lolitas." I thought that was funny =) We have classifications for our youth too, and I think it's amusing how much overlap there is in behavior during the adolescent years. It's true that we can't blame the behaviors of the teens on parents, but in the end, the parents are still the most significant factor in determining their children's behavior. The home environment has a much larger effect than the media or video games, and it is still up to parents to take responsibility for their children. Parents do not have to be perfect, but it doesn't take perfect parents to realize when something is wrong.