Doc67 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:59 am

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:34 am

Alex wrote: ↑Sun Jan 15, 2023 7:53 pm Why anyone (Western) in their right mind would send their children to school in Cambodia is beyond me, but maybe I'm missing something? Government schools are shite and private schools are a ripoff.

I don't plan to have children, but if it should happen by accident, I'd ship them off to stay with my sis in my home country once they need schooling. They'll thank me later.

At first sight your reasoning seems correct, but in reality it isn't always the case.
When I compare the skills I had at the age my kid has now.... My kid wins in almost every way. Not talking digital skills here.
My kid manages two scripts, me only one, speaks reads and writes three languages versus only one at that age for me. Kid has extensive experience in two cultures versus experience in only one culture for me. I think I had only been abroad a few times in neighboring countries at that age, my kid manages to guide me through international airports.
I think if parents make an effort decent education can be arranged in Cambodia but you need either private schooling, home schooling, or both. So you need the money, the time, or both. If those aren't available you're right.

And that's the rub; if you want to push the kids out of the house at 7 in the morning and expect the school to do all the hard work, you are going to be disappointed. This applies to schools back in our respective home countries. You get out what you put in.

Schools in the west will, at most, teach kids to pass their exams, go to university and then get a job so they can pay the taxes. Schools' other role in society is also to take them off your hands so you can go to work and pay the taxes too.

I'm so glad my two are all grown up, working hard and paying their taxes so I can get my old age pension and knees replaced in the fullness of time.

sammycooke wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 2:57 am My observation, and I've thought about it for 30 years, is that you can have 5 kids and do your best or 5 kids and be a loser and your kids are going to be much much different from each other. One will be very successful, a couple will get by just fine and one will be a total fuck up.

I've seen it over and over. A large family with exactly that scenario. Parents who push their kids hard, look down on everyone else and end up with a workaholic son that makes a million but loses his wife to another man because he's never home, regardless of the horses and beautiful waterfront home; and in the same family a lying thieving loser who ends up shooting himself. And everything in between.

True story.

Another large family (both families had 9 or 10 kids) with an alcoholic father, losers of the town but end up having the same situation. A couple of very successful kids and of course a total alcoholic deadbeat son who never worked a day in his life, and everything in between.

In my situation one son did everything I did only better. I always had a motorcycle, he built his own. I worked in construction, he had a construction company, I fooled around boxing with friends, he went in the ring in front of 2,000 fans for a fundraiser, I kayaked for fun, he whitewatered for a month through remote northern Canada. My wife used to call him Sammy 2.0. Lol (not my name) and the other son we're still lending money to, at almost 40 years old, but never getting back. (the wife does, not me)

Just don't think you can micromanage your kid's life and be disappointed in the end. Love them, guide them, give them opportunity and space and hope for the best.

BklynBoy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 3:05 am

sammycooke wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 2:57 am My observation, and I've thought about it for 30 years, is that you can have 5 kids and do your best or 5 kids and be a loser and your kids are going to be much much different from each other. One will be very successful, a couple will get by just fine and one will be a total fuck up.

I've seen it over and over. A large family with exactly that scenario. Parents who push their kids hard, look down on everyone else and end up with a workaholic son that makes a million but loses his wife to another man because he's never home, regardless of the horses and beautiful waterfront home; and in the same family a lying thieving loser who ends up shooting himself. And everything in between.

True story.

Another large family (both families had 9 or 10 kids) with an alcoholic father, losers of the town but end up having the same situation. A couple of very successful kids and of course a total alcoholic deadbeat son who never worked a day in his life, and everything in between.

In my situation one son did everything I did only better. I always had a motorcycle, he built his own. I worked in construction, he had a construction company, I fooled around boxing with friends, he went in the ring in front of 2,000 fans for a fundraiser, I kayaked for fun, he whitewatered for a month through remote northern Canada. My wife used to call him Sammy 2.0. Lol (not my name) and the other son we're still lending money to, at almost 40 years old, but never getting back. (the wife does, not me)

Just don't think you can micromanage your kid's life and be disappointed in the end. Love them, guide them, give them opportunity and space and hope for the best.

Agree w/ this statement from @sammycooke

Also i was going to respond but let it go about " gangsta rap" music and other things that some dude in his opinion was to blame for kids fuck ups.

Element6 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 4:28 am A couple of thoughts here -

- if you school your kids overseas there is a good chance they will want to live there and not be back in kow, so prepare yourself to be far away from them if your eventual ambition is to return here. Is that really what uou want?
- don't underestimate the opportunities for locally educated people who have the right ability and attitude. We have many local/ locally educated managers earning $3k to $4k per month which is better than a lot of people in here. These are the market rates for these people and they have multiple options. There are other places that will pay more for certain specializations. All of these managers were educated in normal high schools and studied in local universities
- people who had been raised predominantly overseas so either were not fluent in reading/writing khmer and more importantly were not culturally Khmer and couldn't assimilate with the local teams would not be considered and would find it much harder to get such roles.
- a follow on from the last point, overseas educated raised and educated kids would more likely to be viewed as a 'local expat' by the job markets with all the associated limitations that being an expat brings
- local/mixed kids raised at the high end private schools here would predominantly want to study university overseas (can you afford that) and either work overseas or have family wealth and husinesses to return to. Very few will be scouting the local job markets

I think a kid educated at a good local private school (western/beltei) supplemented by additional tutoring or parental support, fluent in reading and writing khmer with an overseas degree (absolutely not necessary but optimal) and with the outlook and attitude from a developed nation parent would have ttemendous opportunity here in the labor market and would probably be given opportunities they would find hard to come by back home

For full disclosure I have 2 older kids (no kow parent) state educated in Europe and now have 2 small ones here. Older is in CIS, younger will go when of age. May consider another option such as ispp if the need arises. Have the financial means to support that but understand it may mean they seek their futures in another land

Lonestar wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 4:36 am It is nearly always better to return to your home country to make money. You can keep your skills sharp, and you can contribute to whatever pension scheme is available.

I work half the year in the U.S. and we are raising two children here. My children go to a private school...which is not very good. However, I supplement their learning with online courses I do with them. I prefer to raise my children here because they are surrounded by a large and loving family, my wife can be a full time mom, they are not learning queer theory transgender nonsense, there are not drugs in their schools, they are not surrounded kids with their jeans below their ass listening to gangsta rap, and many more reasons. The education at schools in the U.S. is not much better. If you quiz American high school, or even college graduates, it is apparent that they have learned nothing except how they are supposed to think.