Question

Document F
Source: Jaime FlorCruz, “China Copes with Promise and Perils of One-Child Policy,” CNN, October 29, 2011.
Xiao Xuan
The high cost of the one-child policy is felt deeply by Beijing resident Xiao Xuan, an only-child daughter of a college professor and shopping mall manager. Xiao, 22, says she was blessed with all the attention and resources showered at her from childhood.
Still, she says, she had a mostly lonely childhood. “I used to cu! my$elf on my wrist after being yelled at by my mom and dad because I didn’t know who I should talk to or turn to,” she says. “I was like that for almost two years, but I am very tough so I made it through.”
“I hate to say it but the one-child policy should partly be blamed for some social issues of youth today,” she adds. “It’s been a ridiculous government interference on family issues.”
She wished she had a brother or a sister to share all the attention.

Note: An Internet survey of 7,000 Chinese only children between the ages of 15 and 25 found that 58 percent admitted to being lonely. A majority also described themselves as being selfish. However, many enjoyed being the “sun” around which the family revolved. (Source: NPR, November 24, 2010.)


Source: Louisa Lim, “China’s ‘Little Emperors’ Lucky, Yet Lonely in Life,” NPR, November 24, 2010.

A. J. Song
“I really appreciate [being the] one child, especially from the countryside,” admits 23-year- old A.J. Song, whose parents are from the Gelao minority in Guizhou province.
“My parents, they give me everything. I’m the center of attention in the family. My mother has seven brothers and sisters; my father has six brothers and sisters. Most of my parents’ brothers and sisters have two kids. They are all very jealous about me being the only child,” he says.
Other Chinese research finds advantages to being an only child: They tend to score higher on intelligence tests and are better at making friends, according to Chinese studies.
Song agrees, saying he believes only children care more about their friends. He says the extra investment parents make in an only child is significant.
“If I had a sibling, I probably wouldn’t be who I am now. Probably I’d still be in my small village, getting married and having kids. If you have more kids in your family, probably they’re lacking in education, lacking food, lacking any kind of support, no matter emotional or financial. Basically, everybody is going to be average.”

Based on this document, was China’s one-child policy a good idea? Explain your thinking.

Answer 1

The document shows mixed results — the one-child policy produced clear material and educational benefits for many only children, but also real social and psychological costs. That makes it hard to call it simply “good.”

Evidence of benefits
- Parents could concentrate resources on one child: A.J. Song says his parents “give me everything” and that being an only child let him escape a likely rural, lower-education path.
- Chinese studies cited in the piece report only children tend to score higher on intelligence tests and be better at making friends.

Evidence of harms
- Many only children report loneliness and selfishness: an internet survey of 7,000 found 58% admitted to being lonely and a majority described themselves as selfish.
- Personal anguish: Beijing resident Xiao Xuan describes a “mostly lonely childhood,” even self-harm after feeling she had no one to turn to, and calls the policy “a ridiculous government interference on family issues.”

Conclusion
The policy brought measurable advantages for some children (more parental investment, better test performance) but also caused widespread emotional and social problems and involved intrusive state control of families. Whether it was “good” depends on whether one weighs material/educational gains more heavily than psychological well‑being and family autonomy; on balance, the document portrays it as a policy with serious trade-offs rather than an unqualified success.