The Parental Pressure Deficit

Here is a survey that will strike fear in the heart of Tom Friedman. According to a survey released yesterday by Pew Research, Americans put far too little pressure on their kids to do well in school, particularly in comparison to their counterparts in Asia.

“Have American parents become too pushy about their kids’ education? Many experts seem to think so, judging from several new books by journalists and psychologists that bemoan the growing pressure students feel to do well in school. But at least one group of non-experts — the American public — begs to differ… [M]ost Americans think parents are not pushing their children hard enough. By a ratio of nearly four-to-one, adults in this country say that American parents are placing too little (56%) rather than too much (15%) pressure on students…. When the same question was posed in China, India, and Japan about parents in those respective countries, the results were the mirror image of those found in the United States. In these three Asian countries, solid majorities say children are under too much pressure from parents, and very few believe children face too little pressure.”