Is Parenting Becoming More Globalized?

Whether moms are implementing the laissez faire approach to parenting of the French or the aggressive ridigity of Asian American "tiger moms'', the search for the right way to parent goes way beyond U.S.-based books and blogs. Instead, moms are embracing a more global view, USA Today reports.

"As the world becomes a more global place, there is interest from parents in many countries about what parents in other countries are doing," Jennifer Lansford, a developmental psychologist and research professor at Duke University told USA Today.  

Lansford has studied parenting across nine countries since 2003, and says the majority of parenting research comes from industrialized Western countries, which ignores and excludes the "vast majority of the world's children." But because of our increasingly globalized world, moms are better able to reach out and get parenting tips from the around the world.

Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, an associate professor who teaches child development courses at Ohio State University in Columbus, said "the idea is not necessarily to adopt one of these perspectives, but [for] parents to] calm down because there are different ways to do things."

Schoppe-Sullivan said she makes sure that her students read about parenting perspectives from countries outside of the U.S.

Rachel Rodgers, 31, mother of a 19-month old daughter and expecting a son in June, has read parenting books and blogs on motherhood from places she's visited, including France and Africa.

"I think it's part of growing up in my generation with so much information at our fingertips," she said. "We have a natural inclination to over-research everything. That's what we're used to doing."

Jasjit Sangha, a researcher at the Center for Women's Studies and Education at the University of Toronto, said that what parents are looking for is to try and figure out "the best parts of other cultures."