Does the American culture influence parenting skills of different cultures?

We live in a country where many cultures interact with each other. Some cultures seem similar and others seem completely different from what we are accustomed to seeing. When we notice a culture or tradition that is unusual from American culture we tend to judge, question, and be curious about another society. This allows us to understand the different culture in our surroundings. At times different cultures may make us feel uncomfortable because of our customs and our personal opinions of that culture. And many other times we feel comfortable with other cultures, so we begin friendship and sometimes we create new families; therefore, causing new cultures to emerge. This brings me to the question: Does the American culture influence parenting skills of different culture and traditions? In my personal opinion the American culture can influence different cultures on how we raise our children and could change parenting skills. For example, in the Latino culture children must obey any instruction given by the parent promptly in order to avoid any punishments. While, in the American culture parents are more relaxed which allows for their children to decide when it is a good time to react on any instruction given by the parent. When a person decides to live in another country they must adjust to the living style, language, traditions, and laws. But is it necessary to be influenced by the American culture when raising children and not completely follow personal cultures? Or is it better follow to your personal culture and remembers the American life style and laws which are applied to protect everyone’s civil rights?

In my personal experience as a Latino American I was raised in the Latino household which is much more aggressive than the American culture. In a Latino household most children do not respond in a rude manner to their parents. If children decide to respond to the parent they will be forced to suffer the consequences such as: be yelled at or be spanked either by a wooden spoon or a belt. In the American culture children seem to be allowed to respond back to their parents which will cause an argument between the parent and the child. This causes me to believe that the children have power over the parents. I, as a Latin American, followed both traditions of each culture. Throughout the years I have noticed changes in Latino patenting skills. The aggressive style of highly strict parents demanding the best from their children has changed. Now Latino parents have become more relaxed and kids seem more liberal. For example as I ride public transportation every day I noticed these changes. Latino parents allow their children to act rudely and wait for someone’s reaction before they discipline their child which becomes an embarrassing moment for that child. This becomes into a communication between the stranger and the father or mother of the child. In Spanish the stranger usually says “why don’t you discipline your child?” and the usual response of the mother or father is “well we live in America and we can’t yell or spank our children, and if we do they will call the police”. I have come to believe that this style of parenting has to do with American life style and influence. I do agree that spanking a child is not a good method of discipline, but come on, not every parenting choice can be influenced by the American life style. I personally believe that everyone's culture is important and unique to have good parenting skills to have a better future for our children.