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AnonymousThanks for sharing, I also saw this article pop up, and found it very interesting given China's push for one child policy for so many years. I actually used this article from newsela with my students as a current event article, and they found it very interesting as well, and were able to make connections to their own family and why there parents decided to have the number of kids they did. The article does a great job of breaking down why they want to relax the one child policy, and the great thing about this site is you can change the lexile level to adapt to the needs of your students.
AnonymousI had heard about this shift in China's policy in passing, but decided to read up on it some more after seeing these posts. One thing that really stands out to me is how interesting it is that China is not eliminating the One-Child Policy, but instead, "relaxing" it, to a Two-Child Policy.
I found this article, which gets a little bit intense and graphic at some points. It is not appropriate to use in it's entirety in most classrooms, but does a great job sharing the emotional impacts of this policy if snippets of it are used. For example, there are accounts of a mother who had more than one child during this policy. I think it's interesting to read about how limited her children's opportunities were as well as all children born outside of allotted numbers. This article does a great job of telling the untold side of the One Child Policy- the impacts on life for families who did have more than one child (as well as the horrors involved in limiting the number of children that women had) .
AnonymousThis has been one of the most notable issues coming out of China for people of my generation. I grew up with that as one of my sure bits of knowledge about China. Now that its gone it feels odd, like trying to learn all those new countries after the fall of the Soviet Union. Interesting how they never admit to being wrong, nor to the allowance of a third child, which is all but a given according to political commentators. I doubt it'll be called a "two child policy".
AnonymousI think it's interesting how nations that have policies that control population growth, like China, are now starting to re-think their policies and re-institute new laws due to their country's needs, such as lack of food or an aging population. Here's another interesting article that came out today about how a South Korean agrarian county is providing incentives for families to have more kids to create a future workforce in this area. Negative population growth is real!
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/world/asia/korean-county-achieves-its-goal-less-birth-control-more-babies.html?ref=asia
AnonymousOoh, forgot to mention that there's this Negative Population Growth organization that sends awesome classroom posters/maps and student hand-outs for free. Check it out and sign up to have them send you stuff. I use it with my AP Human Geography & U.S. History students.
Link: http://www.npg.org/for-educators/request-a-teacher-packet.html
AnonymousIt's a very interesting move from china. It seems like they are now worried about having a large population of older people and not very many young people working the factories. I really wonder how this is going to play out as the chinese get older and they dont have enough people to work in the factories that they have made due to lack of labor. Im assuming they are going to start import labor...sound like the US.
AnonymousFrom the point of view of an authoritarian government relaxing a policy is preferable to eliminating a policy. If a policy is completely eliminated it suggests that it should never have existed in the first place. Better to simply revise it.
AnonymousThanks for the link, this is an excellent resource not only for history classes but for Economics as well. I'm always on the lookout for classroom ready resources and this one fits the bill.
AnonymousTeaching AP Human Geography requires me to touch upon China’s One Child policy. The class is very mixed, meaning there are students that have never heard of this policy and others whose parents have lived through the consequences of the policy. Those who have no prior knowledge have many questions as to why this policy exists and what is happening currently in China. On the other hand it’s interesting to hear the stories of the students that have stories from their parents or grandparents. One student talked to the class about her grandparents struggle to have a boy. This struggle is seen throughout China. One short documentary I share with my students is called China’s Lost Girls. The generation of abandoned, mistreated, even killed girls is a clear problem today as shown in the film. The results are seen in schools, in the streets of China and in the families. Discussion of this issue as to possible future consequences after watching the film and looking at case studies is also telling of this subject. The students speculating chaos, disorder, and fear spreading through China are all very possible. Whether the students had no prior knowledge or first-hand stories they all come out with some very interesting questions and speculations. The reverse on this policy is action to prevent exactly what my students have predicted.
If you're interested in the full film I can share from my Drive.
AnonymousThank you for sharing this article! For so long, China has maintained the one-child policy to control population growth after years of Mao encouraging large families. It will be interesting to observe the cultural and socio-economic shifts as a result of the two-child policy. The people who will "solve" issues that arise from this transition are those who are a result of the one-child policy.
Thank you also for sharing information about "China's Lost Girls." I am very interested in watching it. Girls have traditionally been frowned upon, and even given up, as boys are considered more valuable, especially for a farming family. I wonder about the socio-emotional well-being for girls being raised in China. Ironically, girls are more valued when it comes time to marry because of their scarcity.
AnonymousIf I may step on my soapbox for a moment, I'd like to share my personal endeavors regarding China's one-child policy.
I'll cut to the chase: Due to overpopulation concerns, China has long held onto the policy of having only one child per household. Consequently, because of cultural values and upholding tradition, many families prefer a male heir to carry on the family name and/or business. This leads to many young girls to be aborted, abandoned, and/or neglected by their families and community. I needn't mention that many of these girls, regardless of their age, are also often sold into a life of slavery and rape should no one claim them in time. This is heart breaking, and while we can talk about this purely from a scholarly standpoint, I urge you all to help these girls out. Adopting if that's possible, but even sponsoring one is great. There are many organizations out there, but the one I'm working with is Holt International.
I've sponsored two girls through them, and thankfully one of them was adopted by a family on the East Coast of the US. The other I'm still sponsoring, and get regular updates on. I hope you've all read this with compassion for orphans and wards the world over, but when it comes to China, there is a personal anguish that connects me with their situation. Again, this is not simply another topic to discuss, and I hope more people can pitch in to help the disenfranchised.
AnonymousA good idea for an anticipatory set or warm-up may be to begin with a short chip. I like to watch and read with the kids so that they have multiple ways to access the information. CNN is great with providing a student friendly article with a short clip. Below is a link you can use with your students if you're covering the one child policy.
AnonymousThis is a great article. When I was in college I had a class where we cover the one-child policy, we watch one of the films suggested bellow "China's Lost Girls" by National Geographic. I was familiar to what was going on, but never thought of those girls who survived and were not adopted by Americans like the documentary shows and those who suffered after been forced to have an abortion. I recently also read an article talking about those marginalized second-childs, those who were not aborted by their mothers and defied the government restrictions. Parents were fined for having a second child and these children were not recognized as Chinese citizens, they are practically illegal in their own country. They cannot afford to go to college neither find a job legally. Most of the time they teach themselves whatever they need to learn, they focus much of this education to studying their rights as violators of one-child policy. Even though the rules recently change, the trauma these people have gone through will always be there, regardless of them receiving their social security cards or "hukous" now (I'm jus assuming that the government will issue them in the up coming months).
Rob_Hugo@PortNWOn Thursday, October 29,2015 China decided to relax the One-Child Policy. The new policy will come in to effect March 2016 when the law changes. The new change will allow couples to have two children without punishment. The change is to help the country repopulate due to china's rapidly aging population and to help the economy.
I hope this change will make Chinese families happier. I don't know how would I feel if my government dictated how many children I am allowed to have! On the other hand, in my opinion, I think that here in America, a woman's level of education dictates the number of children she will have.
AnonymousWith current trends, China's one child policy is obsolete and their implementation of the two child policy, while a measure of good faith to ensure economic growth, may not be necessary. It is a rather comprehensive look into what was China's one child policy and a good look into what may hold for China's future. After selecting the more culturally dominant gender, Chris Buckley does point out the growing move from male offspring. Buckley also aptly points out that the drastic move from Communist Party morals may be in step with an already changing China.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/world/asia/china-end-one-child-policy.html?_r=0