Individual part (Xinyi)

What you did for a “take action” and reflect on how it felt.

·           I went into the official website, http://www.npfpc.gov.cn/, which is called National Population and Family Planning Commission of P. R. China. It has English page as well. It’s my first time to find Chinese official website about this policy in English. I read several messages from people in China about their questions on this policy. I just found that those questions were further than what I thought to ask. All the people left messages because they met some special problems in their real life. As for me, although I know there is such a conflict and I have my own strong opinion, I have not met this kind of problems yet. This means I cannot feel exactly how the parents feel or experience what the parents meet.

·           I also left a message on this website to ask whether all the cities can use the law of having two children in the family which both of the couple are the only child in their family. I hope I can see the reply soon.

·           I felt very happy while taking this action as I realized that I’m doing something about society and our country.

Reflect on how taking this type of action connects with democratic values.

·           This is what citizens should do, paying attention to the current events and giving our own opinions to the country. We are using our rights to protect our own interests. It is certainly something about democratic values as we are the people from the country and we can demonstrate our owe opinion.

Where do you lie in regards to teaching about social justice issues?

·           I think we need to teach social justice issues but now deeply. In my opinion, social events are something that we should discover by ourselves. Teaching the basic information about these issues can help children build up their understanding of social events. But if we teach too much, we must give our own opinions to the students to a certain degree. It’s not good for the development of children and also the whole society.

·           As for education, I think it is something good for the society. Students learn the knowledge in school and build up the basic understanding of social events here.

Something about the quote:

·           This quote is kind of interesting. I think social justice will be a forever topic in the word. However, I think it is not such a big issue in China, although we have discussions as well. It’s really what we need to learn from America so that there are more and more people concerning about our own country’s events.

http://www.taopic.com/uploads/allimg/111016/1821-111016111T014.jpg

Something else about the policy of one child

This picture is very old and the words in it means the policy of one child has a lot of advantages. This kind of picture can be seen everywhere in 1980's. The government uses them as an indoctrination.

What are the critical attributes of your current event? 

·           One child policy is one of Chinese basic policies. It related to basic rights in China. This policy has involved the national history in the last three decades.

·           It also shows the citizenship education in China which is obedience in my personal opinion (Maoqi). This policy has been embedded in students' daily life which can be considered as so-called citizenship education. I think this policy command a very strong patriotism.

How would you break the problem/ current event up into informational knowledge and procedural knowledge?

·           Informational knowledge: knowing that there is a policy called one child policy and what the social conflict.

·           Procedural knowledge: knowing how to judge this social problem and what can be done as an individual.

How would you break this concept up to teach us as we read the blog, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, what the concepts within the current event/ issue mean?

·           One child policy really hurts people' s rights indeed. However, when it related to the concept of patriotism, this policy becomes perfectly justifiable. Since children are in elementary schools, songs and aphorisms about one child policy are inculcated into children' minds. Chinese government has tended to equal patriotism and one child policy.

What will you do about service learning: in class in your discussion time, out of class, or in your student's class?

·           I will do about service learning in our discussion time and also out of class. I will ask children go back home and have a talk with their parents so that they can have a basic understanding of this policy. I will also let them search some information about this policy online, which helps them to build up their own opinions. Then in the next day’s discussion time, I would like to give every child several minutes to demonstrate their understanding of what the policy of one child is and present their own point of view. After this, I can give them some news about this policy and let them discuss what they think about them.

Take Action by Maoqi

Take Action

I took a questionnaire on China Family Plan Association website. My feeling of doing this is complicated. I think what I have done is effortless and it will not make any influence.

This action can regard as my first step of fulfill my democratic values. However, from this perspective, because there are different democratic values between China and US, I didn't write down my real thoughts in that questionnaire.

If I will teach in China, I may be very struggled. What I teach will be totally indoctrination. As an educator, I may teach students to follow the government's rules which is good for the public, but it would not be my true thinkings.

This quote fits American values but not for China.

Interview by Maoqi

Problem: Do you think the One Child Policy should be abolished?

Wei is my roommate who is also a Chinese girl.

Ps: The third hand is Xinyi's.

Is this a problem you think is important?  Why/ Why not?

I think the one child policy is very important. It depends on different factors if it need to be abolished or not. This policy exists that means reasonable. Due to the huge population of China, this is a effective policy to control population. For some levels, this policy has improved China's economy. However, it do hurt people's human rights.

 Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? why/ why not?

Yes, I think others like me in China think it is an important problem. The One Child Policy is already the basic policy in China. It has benefits and drawbacks.

What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?

There are several sub policies for government to deal with different situation. For example, if a couple are the one child in their family, they can have their second child. This sub policy is a method to against the aging problem in the future.

If their is policy around your issue/ problem/ topic, ask these questions:

What are advantages of this policy?

Because I am the only child in my family, I can have my second baby if I marry another only boy in his family. It is one of advantages of this sub policy.

What are disadvantages of this policy?

The disadvantage of these sub policy is still unfair. It gives some people a chance to have a second child not all.

How might the policy be improved?

These policies can be improved based on widening the  requirements. Maybe in the future, person who have one sibling can have a second child.

Does the policy need to be replaced?  why?

These policies do not need to be replaced. It works well contemporary .

What disagreements, if any, about the policy exist in this community?

The one child policy indeed hurts humans' rights. Some unseen social problems are caused by this policy.

Where can I get more information about this problem and the different positions people take on this problem?

I can get opposite information from western media online. I can know what's westerners' opinions about this policy. Therefore, I can get a overview of this policy.

Reflection: After I interviewed my friend, Wei, I found that we have similar opinions about the One Child Police. We both think it is an effective policy but it defend human's rights in China. If I do interview next time, I hope that I can come up with my own questions. That can help me to get more information from interviewee.

Interview with Qiaoyi by Xinyi

Qiaoyi Zhu is my roommate and friend, who is also from China. I interviewed her about the policy of One Child this afternoon.

Qiaoyi and I

Hello, Qiaoyi. Can I ask you some questions about the policy of One Child? Maoqi and I set up a blog about this policy last week. The main topic is whether we should abolish this policy. You can have any opinion and tell me whatever you want to say.

1.      Is this a problem you think is important? Why/ Why not?

s   Yes, I really think it is a very important problem for us now. Although the government is trying to find out a better way for the sake of people’s request all the time, many people cannot be satisfied. For example, the government says if both of the man and the woman are the only child in their family, they can have two children. This new rule came out because there were many emergencies or accidents happened to children these years, which left tragedies in these poor families. However, there are still many people not included into it. I think how many children to have is nothing about the status or conditions of the couple. Every family should have the right to have two children in case something bad happens.

2.      Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? Why/ Why not?

s   Yes. I can always find that many people like talking about this policy in my community, especially parents. It is one policy connecting with their life tightly. Moreover, as people’s educational levels are higher and higher, they know much more things than before. They have their own opinions and ideas, which means they will not follow the government without questioning. They begin to think about the relationship between them and the country. What the government does on this policy decides how their future life will be and also how the country will develop. So this is really an important problem for all of the people. That’s why so many people are focusing on this problem for so many years.

3.      What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?

s   Just as what I said in the first question, the government promulgates the law to build up happier family considering the high rate of accidents on children. It is quite good to a certain degree and it means the government begins to think about the new problems coming out recently. In addition, the government formulates one policy about medical insurance and one about compulsory education. I think these two are also the acts showing the changes of the government.

4.      What are advantages of this policy?

s   Based on different status and conditions of the couple, the couple can have one or two children: it decreases the sadness of children’s sudden accidents. It also shows that the policy of one child is much more flexible than before. People’s rights are put in a higher place now as well.

s   Medical insurance: the family which has only one child enjoys the right to go to see doctors and buy medicine with less money.

s   Compulsory education: it insures that the children in the family with only one child can get good education.

5.      What are disadvantage of this policy?

s   Based on different status and conditions of the couple, the couple can have one or two children: not all of the people are included.

s   The privileges in medical insurance and education may cause many illegal events to take advantage of these policies.

6.      How might the policy be improved?

s   All kinds of family can have two children if they want.

s   The force to supervise should be stronger so that there will be fewer illegal matters happening.

7.      Does the policy need to be replaced? Why?

s   No. They are the only suitable policy to our society now. Because of the special situation in China, we have to continue using these policies.

8.      What disagreements, if any, about the policy exist in this community?

s   They may be used by some illegal persons.

9.      Where can I get more information about this problem and the different positions people take on this problem？

s   The government’s website; newspaper; books and so on. As for the different positions people take on this problem, I think you can interview more people or just make a research about this problem in the community or online.

Thank you, Qiaoyi!

Reflection:

After interviewing Qiaoyi, I find that the policy of one child is really a serious and complicated problem. We both think we cannot abolish this policy now because of the situations in China currently. However, to limit the birth of children by laws is also not a proper way. As for how to do, it needs a long way to find out the answer. According to Qiaoyi's interview, I also think about that I do need to ask other people in different ages so that I can get various of opinions. 

Preface

We are Maoqi Zhu and Xinyi Zhu, students taking EDU 309-02 Social Studies this semester.

Introduction of the topic:

China's one child policy is one major policy since 1979 in order to limit China's population exponential growth. The gist of this policy is to limits couples to one child and aborts subsequent pregnancies.  There are mainly two groups of people holding different opinions. Someone agrees that one child policy has resulted in prominent outcomes. After the rule has been executed nearly thirty years, China's population has been controlled in a releasably and slowly growing way. Others may disagree this rule because there have negative influences occurred. First and foremost, one child policy will aggravate the aging problem in the future because one couple has to take the responsibility of their both parents. Moreover, due to the Chinese traditional notion of preferring boys to girls, the problem of female infants discard has been increasingly apparent. The unbalanced gender ratio will cause unexpected social problems. The most controversial discussion is that this rule has violated the basic human rights. This policy is still a controversial topic.

The Policies Connected to One Child Policy:

Compulsory Education

Medical Insurance

Websites:

http://io9.com/5948528/the-unintended-consequences-of-chinas-one+child-policy?utm_source=io9.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation

http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/11313

The Governmental Branch That Created The Policy:

National People's Congress

Individual Opinion:

Maoqi:

From my perspective, I don't like this policy because it truly violates the basic human rights and it exists numerous serious sufferings for a family. For example, in 2008 Sichuan earthquake, there are a lot of parents lost their only child and the families were totally destroyed. However, based on the contemporary population situation in China, one child policy is a suitable and effective policy for current China so far.

Xinyi:

I am Xinyi and I currently believe One Child Policy cannot be abolished because the current status of population is still severe. Moreover, there are many problems caused by overloaded population, such as the crowdedness in big cities, the poverty of countryside, the challenge in transportation, and other questions. So if we stop using it now, much more problems must happen. Another reason is that Chinese government has revised it several times to make it more about humanity. It decreases many unnecessary problems and reduce the sadness of unexpected accidents. According to these reasons, I entirely support this policy.