[Closed] What is it with the Chinese and their children?

Propaganda?

Unless a kids life was in immediate danger (the video actually shows traffic was aware of him) I'd be careful about leading them to a place of safety unless my wife was with me, tbh.

In a weird sort of way it shows what observant drivers they are. I doubt he'd last five seconds in the UK on a similar junction. 😉

I'd be careful about leading them to a place of safety unless my wife was with me, tbh.

Really, what's the reasoning?

With Chinas population they probably assume they've got kids to spare.

[i]Really, what's the reasoning? [/i]

The entirely wrong conclusions that people might reach and the implications for me and my wifes career that might result from them.

It's selfish of me and as I said, if I thought a kids life was in danger I would act, but for a lost kid type situation I'd make sure I had another adult with me before I took any action.

Having a Chinese wife, and lived over there for nearly 20 years, I'd have to say that the Chinese have a weird (to us) combination of very strong bonds within their immediate family, but an utter disregard for strangers. Could be the best way to cope in a country of over a billion people, but I also think it has something to do with the casual attitude to the suffering of others bred by centuries of hardship (famines, wars, political upheaval), and an extreme sense of 'minding ones own business' beaten into them by half a century of communism's excesses.

And before we get all superior about it, it's worth remembering that under similar circumstances - ie. the middle ages - western european society had an equally casual attitude to the suffering and death of others, and that includes children. I remember reading somewhere that parents wouldn't even name their children until they were six or seven years old, because there was such a high chance of them dying before then that it wasn't worth getting attached to them!

wwaswas

See where you're coming from there but......... really 😯

I think you have a healthy dose of paranoia if you believe that anyone would jump to the wrong conclusion in a situation like that.

I asked a Chinese friend about this, and I was told that anyone stopping to help could be accused of causing the accident and be liable for all the medical costs until proven otherwise.

Don't forget that in the UK in a recent survey the majority of men said they would walk on past a lost child lest they be accused of abduction or similar. It's a sad world.

During the industrial revolution in Manchester only 1 child in 5 made it to adulthood. In comparison the Chinese look too be dealing with massive industrial changes with a little more care for their children.

Cool scooter!

There was also a news story recently of a passing Taxi driver who stopped, leapt out of his cab and dived down a hole to save/and stay with a girl who fell down a sink hole.

..in China.

Lets not forget negative news stories that fit a theme will always be spotted, picked up and reported.

wwaswas - Member

Unless a kids life was in immediate danger (the video actually shows traffic was aware of him) I'd be careful about leading them to a place of safety unless my wife was with me, tbh.

I read this in utter disbelief. Sounds completely selfish and paranoid.

[i]everyone just drives around the poor ****er [/i]

I watched that - "everyone" = 2 vehicles. The 2 vehicles are shown over and over, so the next car may have stopped and helped him. Sensationalism, I thought.

http://www.viralviralvideos.com/2012/04/24/taxi-driver-saves-girl-who-falls-through-weak-pavement-in-china/

[i]I think you have a healthy dose of paranoia if you believe that anyone would jump to the wrong conclusion in a situation like that. [/i]

I did try and differentiate between the 'lost, crying, child in the shopping centre' and the 'kid about to fling themself under a bus' scenarios.

Of course I'd act int he latter, in the former I'd be far more reticent about approaching a child on my own.

+1 perthmtb
I might also add that the OP mentions two cases, the first of which was shocking and viewed as such by most of the native Chinese I know, the 2nd looks like one of those harmless stories the UK news used to end with at the end of the 9 o'clock news a few years ago. The motorists could see the child and all took evasive action and we also could not see from that clip where the policemen was, I am guessing he was close and going to intervene, hence the reason for most of the traffic not stopping.

[i]The motorists could see the child and [s]all[/s] [b]both[/b] took evasive action[/i]

FTFY

Sorry guys, but in that situation I would stop the whole flow of traffic to make sure the kid was OK and balls to anyone peeved at being made late for whatever.

But that said, the insights on liability in China are interesting as is Perthmtb's insights.

I'd have to say that the Chinese have a weird (to us) combination of very strong bonds within their immediate family, but an utter disregard for strangers.

And the reasons suggested for this are interesting.

Wow some amazing generalisations.

I remember being in a traffic queue for about 5 mins, as I got to the front it turned out a guy had come of his motorbike and was lying in the road, cars were mounting the pavement to go around him, I was the first to get out and check on him, phone for an ambulance police etc.

It's not just those foreign chappies you know, England is full of self absorbed ignoramuses too.

It's not just those foreign chappies you know, England is full of self absorbed ignoramuses too.

True - except this was a child and I think (hope) that for a child, people would be stopping the world turning, not just traffic.

Wow some amazing generalisations.

I agree, not saying whether they're accurate or not, but slightly incredulous nonetheless. Particularly considering the size of China and the myriad of different cultures it's composed of.

True - except this was a child and I think (hope) that for a child, people would be stopping the world turning, not just traffic.

I think that maybe you ascribe too much compassion to the English! I'm not convinced drivers in England wouldn't do the same.

I saw a bloke apparently fallen off his motorbike at low speed yesterday. Three people already there.

It didn't make the news.

If I see a child loose on the streets, I jump out of my van and wave my penis around at everyone. That soon stops the traffic.

Last night I watched a BBC (British Born Chinese) Doctor on 24hours in A&E cry.

Was he allowed or aren't all BBC's supposed to not care about anyone outside?

The cult of the child does seem to be worse in England and America.

It's not just those foreign chappies you know, England is full of self absorbed ignoramuses too.

Very true.
A few (4-5??) years ago I was in London, in a busy area (Can't remember exactly where, Maybe Soho or Covent Garden, somewhere round there) and I see a man lying in the gutter. There were people EVERYWHERE. As I walk up I see 2 women standing on the pavement as far away from him as they can get. Apparently they've called an ambulance.
Now this is central London in 2007-ish. Not 1407-ish. People are ignoring a man lying in the gutter. Not one or two people, but dozens and dozens have ignored him. It matters not why he's in the gutter. It only matters that he's a human being and needs help. That's it.
Nobody has tried to get him out of the gutter. Nobody is talking to him, nobody is checking if he's bleeding, or hurt, or breathing, or being sick. Nobody is protecting him from the traffic. Nothing.

As I bent down to check him out, the paramedic arrived, so the 2 women had done their job, thankfully, but it still bothers me to this day that so many people would walk past another human being in distress.

To anyone reading this who would do that, for ANY reason other than putting your own life at risk, you're scum, you really are.

Never been to China, but going on my experiences of SE Asia, that's just how they roll on that side of the world. Riding into the flow of 'traffic', which is actually more like a swarm of wasps, is an entirely accepted practice, if you need to be somewhere quick, or just need a shortcut. Red lights are there purely to confuse westerners as they're waiting to cross when the swarm of wasps doesn't stop. And accidents are part of daily life.

I don't find it too surprising that a young kid could think so little of doing it, and that drivers could show so little surprise either.

But my assumptions on China may be wrong?

Some serious stereotyping going on here. quite Daily Mail.....

Unless a kids life was in immediate danger (the video actually shows traffic was aware of him) I'd be careful about leading them to a place of safety unless my wife was with me, tbh.

wow 😯 If my kids are ever stranded in the middle of a busy junction or lost in a shopping centre, you have my permission to help them, I promise I will not call you a pervert. It sounds like you have a job that requires a disclosure check, perhaps your paranoia is misdirected. How would it look if you were accused of not helping a kid when they needed it.

If I see a child loose on the streets, I jump out of my van and wave my penis around at everyone. That soon stops the traffic.

Best line of the day. 😀

The cult of the child does seem to be worse in England and America.

Que?

I have a job with a disclosure check. We are not paranoid. In fact
you can even be friends with children. We speak to them in the street.

I once returned two very upset girls that had got lost on a not very salubrious part of clydeside to their mother on the other side of the river. They approached me and with a combination of a phone call home and some detective work on their route they returned safe.

Anyone who thinks they might be confused for a 'peado" needs to take a look at themselves and maybe learn some human interaction skills and common sense. These are the same people that won't do first aid in case they get sued. They serve no useful place in society and should be taken outside and shot in front of their families.

I used to think the same thing regarding the 'cult of the child' until I had my own kid.

Now I get where the hyperbole (hyperbolic?) and hysterical reactions come from.

Is he tandomjeremy's child. demonstrating how a junction without traffic lights is just as safe as one with traffic lights?

Is he tandomjeremy's child. demonstrating how a junction without traffic lights is just as safe as one with traffic lights?

Could well be since the kid is also not wearing a helmet 😀

😆

's ok, Darcy is providing one, remember.

2 billion people and one youtube clip defines an entire nation...

My British colleague lives with his Nigerian wife in Lagos and they bring the kids over the UK once or twice a year. They say it's amazing the lengths British people will go to, to avoid any physical contact with the kids. They assume it's fear of being labelled a paedo that makes us like that.

Is he tandomjeremy's child. demonstrating how a junction without traffic lights is just as safe as one with traffic lights?

Hello? Can anyone see me?

also I feel I need to ad is two cars and two buses. not one car and one bus.

Happens over here as well.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9077380/Commuters-ignore-schoolboy-who-collapsed-at-train-station.html

[i]What is it with the Chinese and their children?[/i]

They've got an abundance...not gonna miss one or two, are they.

Anyone who thinks they might be confused for a 'peado" needs to take a look at themselves and maybe learn some human interaction skills and common sense. These are the same people that won't do first aid in case they get sued. They serve no useful place in society and should be taken outside and shot in front of their families

A bit harsh, for what it's worth I agree with your initial sentiments, i.e. there is nothing wrong with looking after your fellow humans particularly those more vulnerable. Unfortunately most people get their knowledge (?) and ideas from the media and it's them that have been spinning the peado-hyperbole out of all proportion. We need to educate people that physical contact is accetpable and that speaking to kids isn't something to be scared of.

The really, really, scarily unfortunate side of all this is that kids are far, far more likely to be abused by a family member/close friend than some random good samaritan. This is something that should receive far more publicity and support, not the stereotypcal "man in a dirty mac on the corner".

also I feel I need to ad is two cars and two buses. not one car and one bus.

Nice work.

i like kids, they're like little people without all the pretences and bullshit that usually comes with growing up. oh how i miss the good old days when playing with children didnt make people jump to the conclusion you were gonna diddle em as well, good work daily mail et al.

Hello? Can anyone see me?

You don't have kids, you don't even have a girlfriend. she just hangs off your arm at social events. you don't do that mucky stuff with her though; its not the christian way.

Nice work.

I think lack of confidence stops a lot of people trying to help.

i like kids, they're like little people without all the pretences and bullshit that usually comes with growing up. oh how i miss the good old days when playing with children didnt make people jump to the conclusion you were gonna diddle em as well...

Agree with the first sentence, but not the second. I treat kids the same as I always have, if other people have an issue with that then that really is their problem. And I have an enhanced disclosure CRB checked job. Sometimes you have to fight, and fight hard and relentlessly for what is RIGHT.

Tucker UK, I agree entirely.

I don't behave any differently, I like kids, and they are fun to talk to. Way funnier than most adults.

I do it all the time and can't remember the last time someone reacted badly to it.

(if anyone ever does, it won't change my behaviour, because I'm doing nothing wrong in the slightest)

In my job I visit customers houses all the time, and often spend half the time chatting away with the kids while I'm working. Parents mostly find it useful as they can do other things while I entertain the ankle biters.

I treat kids the same as I always have, if other people have an issue with that then that really is their problem.

No its not, its society's problem, but it's just easier to apportion blame against individuals than realising we actually need to act together.

You think the Chai Knees are bad... I'd it were Korea they'd be fighting over a dead paediatric corpse ready to dry it out and grind it into powder before putting the dust into capsules for its holistic cannibalistic properties, no shit.

A bit harsh, for what it's worth I agree with your initial sentiments, i.e. there is nothing wrong with looking after your fellow humans particularly those more vulnerable. Unfortunately most people get their knowledge (?) and ideas from the media and it's them that have been spinning the peado-hyperbole out of all proportion. We need to educate people that physical contact is accetpable and that speaking to kids isn't something to be scared of.

Unfortunately there is a lot of stuff out there encouraging people's paranoia. I have an enhanced CRB too - we did some child protection training recently and a lot of it is about how you can keep yourself safe from accusations etc and some of the recommendations are to my mind fairly ridiculous, eg you should never ever be alone on a room with a child - well we teach music workshops and sometimes do individual instrument lessons - are we meant to have a chaperone with us at all times?

tuckeruk is spot on right, there is some serious propoganda in the media, i have a disclosure check for my job too (bus driver)
i would stop and help a kid in distress, traffic can go and get stuffed in that situation imo.
people are more important than free flowing traffic.
ive never been worried about being called a paedo because im not one.
HOWEVER, i understand why a completely innocent person may be wary of helping without their wife (or whoever) present.

2 billion people and one youtube clip defines an entire nation...

+1

Just out of interest, who when passing through that junction with what 4 or so lanes in all directions, would have seen a small person on a motorbike crossing at the same time as other small people on motorbikes, identified it as a kid on a toy rather than a small person on a motorbike, been happy to stop in the entire road full of traffic and block the whole junction while running after the kid? Maybe a pedestrian might have helped but that assumes people look up from the ground while walking, I rarely do.

When blown out of all proportion this looks horrific. In reality it's nothing more than a kid got loose and some drivers managed to avoid him on a junction and 10 seconds later he was stopped by a policeman. Sounds pretty acceptable to me.

Seems like it's just some kid doing something stupid, rather than an entire nation not taking care of their children.