I was stunned learning that my friends do not know how to raise their child properly. Not that I love to interfere their domestic business, but the kid is my godson and I must care.
I think (based on my own eyes) that only a small proportion of Thai citizens recognize its importance. Everything including foods you fed, reaction you responded to the kid in different situations, reply you gave when the kid asked, all these could effect the kid's life very soon.
In the old days, the Thai families are large scale families. The kids lived with parents, grand-parents, uncles, and aunts and their kids. This kind of setup allow the parents to learn from the experienced ones (e.g. the grand-parents).
In the present, this kind of environment ceases to exist. Much smaller scale of family has become the norm. Unfortunately, the science of raising a child has not been widely (enough) recognized. The tendency that the kids might be too fat, too thin, too much of one thing or another, physically and/or mentally, by age of three is increasing.
I heard the news from BBC, saying that the kid who eat alone in front of his TV will not have a chance to learn good table manners and have less social skill. The same news reporter says that with all chemical ingredients in snacks and sweets, the kid may have a higher chance of being too fat, too naughty (hyperactive?) and could effect his/her learning efficiency in the school ages. It seems that not many parents I know do care about this.
I think this may be a nation crisis. The kid who may have too much snack today may be a non-healthy citizen tomorrow. The kid who may never get enough attention from their parents properly today may be aggressive tomorrow. If Thailand want to develop herself, the first investment she shall spend is to educate the parents well, heavily. I have seen many changes in the school curriculums over years and in my opinion it is getting worse and worse. It may be a better idea to educate every fathers and mothers on how to raise a kid.
If the raw material is low quality, no matter how good the system is, it will be very difficult to create a good output.
