|
At Chinese New Year, children receive hong bao, money in red envelopes that has probably increased because of the family planning policy. We in the West are led to believe that a generation of obese, spoilt little emperors are making their way through their Chinese childhoods with the granting of every wish and a road to adulthood paved with chocolate. But bringing up my son in China, I haven't noticed that his classmates are any more spoilt or misbehaved than their Western counterparts. Indeed, the phenomenon we are supposed to find in China is actually growing in my own backyard. On a recent visit to the UK, I was shocked by the accumulation of "things" these British tots have. A bedroom with walk-in cupboard stocked so full that a large shelving unit had to be installed in the lounge to accommodate all of the pre-school child's treasures. Unopened toys, still in their original packaging, line the bedroom walls and floors of one family's five-bedroom house. The dining room has been transformed into a "playroom" so the new sleds-full of toys from Santa can be squeezed in. One of my friend's 11-year-old sons has not one, not two, but three mobile phones - and an iPhone. Another iPhone-wielding 12-year-old's mother later informed me he had been subjected to some graphic pornography through not knowing how to use the thing, and through her own ignorance of how to implement parental controls. | 
