Showing posts with label ethics of parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ethics of parenting. Show all posts

Friday, February 18, 2011

The human race needs elephant mothers, not tiger mothers; Guardian, 2/13/11

Peter Singer, Guardian; The human race needs elephant mothers, not tiger mothers:

"We should aim for our children to be good people, and to live ethical lives that manifest concern for others as well as for themselves. This approach to childrearing is not unrelated to happiness: there is abundant evidence that those who are generous and kind are more content with their lives than those who are not. But it is also an important goal in its own right.

Tigers lead solitary lives, except for mothers with their cubs. We, by contrast, are social animals. So are elephants, and elephant mothers do not focus only on the wellbeing of their own offspring. Together, they protect and take care of all the young in their herd, running a kind of daycare centre."