The article reflects on a personal experience in Prague, where a stranger corrected the author’s child in a public setting. This gesture, though normal in other cultures, such as Czech, felt foreign to the author, who notes that in the U.S. and U.K., people often hesitate to intervene for fear of upsetting parents. The author conducted an informal survey that confirmed this hesitation among Americans, highlighting cultural differences in community involvement in child-rearing.
In America, many people don’t seem to think they have the authority to instruct or touch a kid who isn’t theirs, leaving parenting to parents.
I was grateful for the woman’s tap on my daughter’s foot. But the exchange felt foreign compared to the reluctance found in America.
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