What Are Some Filipino Child-Rearing Practices?
There are multiple Filipino child-rearing practices, one of which is to encourage children against independence until they are older. They are strongly taught to incorporate strong family values. The community, families and neighbors raise children in this culture. Children are also unable to rebut when reprimanded. Speaking in a soft voice is also taught to children due to the culture’s passion for harmony.
Preciosa Soliven writes in her article “A Point of Awareness” displayed on Philstar.com that “the large kinship of support from parents, extended family and the community has conditioned the child to leisurely grow up.” She argues that this concept of “family sufficiency and a refined sense of reciprocity” is often responsible for the country’s troublesome habits of nepotism in business, padrino system and political dynasties.
There are advantages and disadvantages to family sufficiency. The Filipino culture argues that their style incorporates strong values that makes their children more emotionally stable and affectionate to grow up peaceful and happy. The disadvantage, however, is that the lack of encouragement for independence hinders children in development in the adult world where responsibilities and consequences are placed on the individual. Soliven argues that learned behavior that children are expected to follow leaves a permanent mark on their adult lives, so a good balance of dependent and independent values are healthy.
