Well Behaved Child

Enfant bien élevé

listens to their parents.
who can behave well in public and control temper tantrums.
who can carry on a polite conversation with an adult without abandoning childlike charm.
who follows the rules and wishes of someone with authority.
who has been socialized and understands the definition between "right" and "wrong" according to the society she/he lives in.
who is charming
who is willing to learn.
who knows different situations and how to act in them
who knows how to listen to and follow rules.
who knows themself to be inexperienced and thus respects the wisdom of age.
who listens after being told "no".
who listens to authoritative figures
who listens to their parents and follows the rules.
who obeys their parents.
who observes.
who shows respect to parents, who doesn't throw tantrums
who sits quietly when silence is needed
who wants to do the right thing and tries hard to do that

de poli, correct
de poli, qui respecte les autres
est bien poli
qui connait les formes de politesse,qui respecte les plus grands et qui n'insulte pas
qui dit merci
qui écoute ses parents
qui est heureux d'être sage :)
qui est respectueux des autres
qui est respectueux, qui respecte certains codes
qui me ressemble
qui ne boude pas au moment d'aller au lit;
qui ne contredit pas ses parents, qui mange tout ce qu'on lui sert à table chez quelqu'un
qui ne fait pas du mal exprès.
qui ne répète pas les bêtises qu'on lui a déjà signalées
qui parle poliment
qui respecte les adultes
qui respecte les personnes qui l'entourent
qui sait analyser son dévelloppement intéléctuel et sentimental seul
qui sait bien se tenir en public
qui sait se comporter en société.
qui se tait.
respecte les adultes et dit bonne nuit à ses parents avant de dormir

Discussion

It's interesting how the Americans discussed the importance for children to respect and obey authority figures while the concept of authority was never mentioned by the Americans in association with a "good parent."
While a "good" French parent is expected to discipline effectively, this list suggests that a well-behaved French child must act politely and respectfully, especially in public. What do you think one could say in terms of the significance of manners in American society, and especially the differences between the public and private spheres?

c'est souvent hors de la sphère familliale que l'on se rend compte si un enfant est bien élevé. Il ne doit pas être seulement poli avec ses parents mais savoir bien se comporter en publique.

I also find the fact that the quality of manners was better represented on the French side to be significant. Overall, the French side seems to express higher expectations for the maturity and courteousness of well-behaved children, while the American responses generally acknowledge basic obedience to be the main requirement of good behavior. Belinda mentioned in the 'good parent' discussion section the stereotype of "spoiled" and "bratty" American children--I wonder if American culture might lend itself in some way to producing bratty children or allowing more disobedience to occur, and likewise if French culture demands more from children in terms of politeness and social etiquette.

I was suprised that American's did not write responses like "says please and thank you" or "eats everything (and all the vegetables) on his/her plate". These were listed on the French side and not on the American side; however, I think they exist in the typical American idea of a good child as well, even though they were not listed in this exercise.

Peut-être ces "bonnes manières" sont moins importantes à communiquer à l'enfant que d'autres choses ? On a l'impression que les "bonnes manières" sont en fait le fruit de l'obéissance...

Meaghan has a good point. I think that the reason Americans did not make this association is because we didn't make many specific references to politeness at all. Our responses seemed to focus more on concepts, such as "doing the right thing," "who follows the rules." If we had been asked to give specific examples, I think saying please and thank you and eating vegetables would definitely have come up. It is interesting, however, that the French seem to give specific examples to many of the questions while the Americans don't.

J'ai cette impression aussi. Que les gens pensent beaucoup :

L'enfant est bien éduqué = les parents l'ont bien éduqué, et l'enfant est obéissant.

L'enfant se comporte mal = il est rebelle ou ses parents ne lui ont rien appris

engage