A Documentary : Globalization & Its Effects on Parenting Styles in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, A very dynamic place to live in as it is filled with a fusion of asian and western cultures, making it really hard for one to get bored in this city as there is just so much to do As of 2016, Hong Kong has over 7,368,595 people living here with just 1,104 km² of space, making it one of the most densely populated place on Earth

However, this has not stopped Hong Kong from having major success in globalization around the world Back in 2013, Hong Kong secured its ranking in the globalization index by coming in first again for being the most globalized economy in the entire world for the third consecutive year Surely not an easy feat considering that Hong Kong competed with 60 other large economies to get this title To the ordinary eye, Hong Kong might seem to be an overcrowded place that is not suitable for long-term living Nonetheless, if we take a closer look, we can see that Hong Kong has become much more open to trade, increasing its capital flows

With major strengths in the exchange of technology and ideas, it has allowed for an increased in labor movements and cultural integration All of which contributed to Hong Kong becoming more and more globalized Globalization, a process where the world gets more and more interconnected with one another by bringing people of all cultures together from the integration of economies and the formation of an international statusThanks to globalization, the quality of life in Hong Kong has risen considerably The introduction of MTRs in 1975 as well as octopus cards in 1997 has greatly improved the lives for Hong kong people with its efficiency

The Octopus card being able to be used for most things such as MTR transportation and buying food, just to name a few Not only that, globalization has allowed different cultures to introduce their way of doing things as well as the food they eat Looking at the past, we can see that Hong Kong mainly only had tea restaurants that provided affordable food to cater towards the lower and middle class people Fast forward to today, there are cuisines of all kinds that cater towards all kinds of people It is so easy now for one to be able to eat Dim Sum for breakfast, vietnamese noodles for lunch, and chinese Hotpot for dinner all in close vicinity to each other

If we take a look at the Yau Ma Tei Temple Street, we can see that the hawker stalls no longer sell much necessities that locals need than they used to in the past Instead, they target tourists by selling tshirts and magnets that says "I love hong kong" on it as they see it as a more profitable way to run their business to do so Globalization has definitely opened our eyes by allowing us to experience new things we have never tried before We are able to learn from different cultures and not be confined into living or eating the same way our ancestors have done before us It has changed our way of living with the many options we have to choose from

All of which has led to me into wanting to further explore how parenting styles have changed over the years in Hong Kong, just like how people's lifestyle and food choices have changed over the years Hi, my name is JayVin and in this documentary I will set out to find out how globalization has changed the way of parenting over the years in Hong Kong My hypothesis is that through globalization, parents of today have been exposed to the Western way of parenting which has influenced them into becoming a more passive parent than their own parents were Overtime, this has led to less strict parenting today than it was say 50 years ago This does not mean that parents of today do not care for their children as much

It simply means that locals in Hong Kong are changing their way of parenting have adopted a new style of parenting that people here have rarely used in the past To prove my hypothesis, I will be conducting interviews with both local and non local students of the University of Hong Kong I will go even further by collecting online surveys from students all over the world regarding their parents parenting style to give me a better idea on why certain parenting styles are used in other areas and why it could be a success there and not elsewhere Hardworking student can be found in every university in the world One can assume that part of the reason students are working so hard is not only because they want to achieve high grades and have a better future, but it is also due to the influence of their parents who have shaped them into working hard

For example, you will rarely see students who have been neglected by their parents to do well as they have been raised to not care too much on school work Thus, they may be more inclined to party and may not even have grades good enough to get into university in the first place Of course, this cannot be a generalization to all neglectful parents as there are some exceptions where the children themselves have their own innate motivation to do well In the University of Hong Kong, we see many students working on their assignments and studying in the Chi Wah Learning Commons It is one of the best places to study on campus and often gets so full in here that you would not even be able to find a seat

Now there are 4 main types of parenting styles that I will briefly go over The first one is the authoritarian way of parenting This is a very controlling way that involves strict rules These parents believe that kids should be punished if they do not behave and see obedience as the utmost importance Parents that are authoritarian are highly demanding to their children but are not very responsive to them

They do not like to be challenged and their word is final Researchers believe that this form of parenting would lead to children having lower self esteem in themselves and overall more shy than other kids Looking at Hong Kong parenting, we can see that the majority of parents here use the authoritarian and aurthoritaive way of parenting Some mothers have even been labelled as "tiger moms" for their traditional way of Chinese parenting where they have strict rules and give tough love to their children in order for them to have the highest chance of success Kids of this type of parenting may appear more successful early on but in reality they will grow up have poor decision making skills and a reliance of an external control which reduces their sense of confidence

The second parenting type is the authoritative way Compared to authoritarian parenting, this form is a much warmer approach where parents still have control but are more responsive to their children Authoritative parents are more open to listen to what their children desire and try to find a balance in the interests of both parent and children These parents are assertive but not restrictive Researchers believe this form of parenting will give children a better sense of independence as they are allowed freedom of expression

The permissive style is a style of parenting where parents are warm and accepting towards their children They do not demand much from their children and much more lenient They accept their children for who they are and if they happen to get good grades, they may be rewarded with materialistic goods or more freedom Parents who use this style of parenting would not mind too much if their kids go out and have some fun as they are more lenient in these sort of activities This form of parenting is most closely related to "dolphin parenting," where parents encourage independence from their children but still expect some rules to be followed

The last form of parenting is the worst form which is the uninvolved style, also know as neglectful parenting Children with these parents get the freedom to do whatever they want as the parents demand and give nothing to their children at all These kinds of parents do not care of the well-being of their children and do not take the time to know them With clear differences between the tigers and dolphins way of parenting, we still see a debate with parents as to which parenting style is best Looking at the online survey results I received, it is clear that the parents of the majority of non-local university students today had received mostly authoritative parenting from their parents, with the permissive style of parenting coming in second

When asked which type of parenting style will they use on their children, results show that the permissive parenting style is really close to the authoritative style of parenting which shows that the children of today have been influenced by western cultures and parenting through globalization which has affected their way of thinking and how they would parent their own children in the future Now the following clips are some interviews I had done with a local and non-local student of the University of Hong Kong Even though Hong Kong's parenting has always been more strict compared Western countries, we can see that globalization has made an impact in Hong Kong in not only the opportunities to expand to global markets around the world but also in how future parents will parent their children Although I feel that it will take some time before locals in Hong Kong become less strict to their children, it is an event that will slowly but surely happen in years to come as the world becomes more and more globalized and interconnected Globalization has allowed parents in Hong Kong to be exposed to western ideas and cultures, leading to some parents adopting some of the Western parenting ways

As the times we lives in today have changed over the years due to new technology and inventions, parents should also adapt their way of parenting to better fit the times of today Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that the increasing globalization in the world has led to the people of Hong Kong gearing towards a more permissive "dolphin" style of parenting rather than the "tiger mom" style of parenting that is most common for Asians It is also important to note that no parenting style is the best parenting style as everyone is different and so this is subjective All in all, it is important for parents to understand that there should be a good balance in how they teach their children A kid that has no time to enjoy themselves and only does schoolwork is surely not a good thing long term

On the other hand, a kid who has all the time in the world to do anything they want is also not good as they need the guidance of an elder to show them the right way Hong Kong the city that never sleeps

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