In the "International Values Survey" that I introduced yesterday, there was a section on the qualities that we want our children to acquire.
I thought it would be the same in all countries, but it turns out to be quite different.
The table below shows the results for Japan and the Philippines.
In Japan, very few parents want their children to be obedient, the lowest among the 77 countries.
The percentage of parents who want their children to be diligent is also low at 25.1%.
Japanese people have an image of being obedient and diligent. Therefore, do many parents think it is okay not to have their children acquire them anew?
Rather, they want their children to acquire "decisiveness and perseverance" and "independence.
On the other hand, Filipino parents seem to want their children to be "diligent" and "independent. Conversely, they believe that "imagination and creativity" are not so necessary.
The qualities that parents want their children to acquire may in fact be qualities that they themselves lack. It is natural for parents to want their children to acquire these qualities because they do not have them themselves.
I am not good at math (my mind overheats just looking at equations), so I want my children to be good at math.
In this light, what is at stake for the Japanese is "decisiveness and perseverance" and "independence. This is somewhat understandable. Well, I think they have a lot of patience.
Perhaps you think that Filipinos are somewhat lacking in "diligence". However, when it comes to women, I think many of them are diligent.
For the first time in two years, elementary school face-to-face classes have started in Cebu.
Our children seem to be attending school in good spirits.
They are both in elementary school now, so they need to do some schoolwork, but more importantly, I want them to play a lot outdoors.
I want them to play outdoors a lot, because a child's job is to play a lot, letting their curiosity and interests get the better of them.
However, I would like them to avoid playing games on smart phones as much as possible (up to one hour a day) because they don't use their brains and bodies.
