KZBlog

Thanks to Kazakhnomad who posted on a story by a an expat working in Almaty about bullying on the toboggan trail. Go read her story yourself, but basically she was annoyed by kids who cut in line for the tobbagan trail at Ak Bulak and, what is more, being encouraged by their mother to cut in line, be rude to a pregnant foreigner, and pretend not to speak Russian so no one could complain.

I know many people here tell me that kids are kids. I sometimes hear praise for a theory of parenting (sometimes attributed to Turkey, sometimes to Japan) that parents should not discipline their children until the age of 5. For 5 years, the kid should be able to run around, scream, and do whatever he or she wants. And yes, kids are kids. But I don’t see how you can coddle your kids, let them cut in line, and say rude things, and then expect them to grow up to be well-mannered teenagers or adults.

What do you think of raising children to be good mannered?