Somebody's making €€, I agree.

Have lived in France for over 20 years and the article does not represent the way the French raise their kids.

It might represent that the author knows people in her circle who think the same way she does and so she decided to cash in and add yet another American-bashing book to the list. How original of her.

I recently went to an Ikea in France and the brats were treating the store like a playground. They were jumping on the beds, pulling on displays, running in the aisles. I know because I was in the store about 20 minutes and had at least 10 brats run right into me without so much as an excuse me from them or their parents, who watched with vacant ''I don't care what my children do'' looks on their faces. It was unbelievable. I left as soon as I could find the darn exit.

As for the person above who claims that the French brutalize their children, I can tell you that no such thing is the norm.

The French media sometimes debate whether a smack on occasion would really be all that harmful, but if that person's father was violent, it was not the norm.

Many years ago, the French did indeed use a small whip-like instrument to punish their children. It was a deterrent.l If you don't behave, I'll get the little whip.

I'd say that it went totally out of style (and is no longer sold much anywhere) at least 25 years now.

I don't know why some performers just have to have to have to try and prove how ''rebellious'' they are on live TV.

They should make the performers sign contracts that state that they will not purposefully do, say or sing anything that is disrespectful or inappropriate, period.

What losers some performers are...

Almost any work experience can be a launchng pad to something better.

The hardest part is getting that FIRST experience.

When you are very young, you are most likely not able or willing to take on much to begin with anyway. A low responsibility job is fine. Then, you move up. Or you move out.

But why is a job at Walmart bad? If you can handle a job there, then you can certainly convince a future employer that you are worth a try.

So tired of all you people who moan about ''crap'' jobs.

You are one of the reasons that many younger people today won't go near a hard job, like one at Walmart. Because you are teaching them that work is only valuable to them under certain circumstances - ones THEY choose. So they expect to have a first job with great pay and great hours without paying any dues and without learning any skills before they get there.

ANY job can be valuable to you. Doesn't mean you have to do that job for the rest of your life! But one step at a time.

Yes, it's just one wonderful result of the socialist program to reduce the work week.

It was supposed to be creating jobs but it never did.

Instead, people work overtime and get comped and comped.

Gotta love French unions. They do nothing better than think of themselves and how they can ''take'' their employers to the cleaners.

Gotta love French leftist politicians who promise that everything will be fine even if everyone stops working so hard. The government can always just keep paying you to raise your kids and rent an apartment and pay you unemployment for years after you lose your job. No big deal.

The French government is the country's largest employer. And hospitals are, for the most part, are not private there...so, you get the picture.

Money well spent.
/sarcasm

There are fat people in all developed countries.

Get over it.

In France, if you work for a company that requires you to do overtime during the year, you receive compensation in vacation days. I knew a guy once who worked for a company that made software fro mobile phones and he had a full two months of vacation to take when summer came around.

AND no one was expected to do his job while he was away. The work just sat there and waited for him to get back.

LOL

I feel sorry for these girls.

They have a dad who wanted to make a splash on the internet so he used this ''i made this for my girls'' excuse to do it.

Or else he is a father with very inappropriate tastes in gifts.

Either way, good luck girls.

Not cool. People who work in stores on busy shopping days don't need to be bothered with this kind of stuff. Really.

Don't worry. In some Arab countries that I will not name but that you can find easily by googling, children are taught that Jews are not human, but pigs.

At least most of our children know that Columbus was a guy with a boat. Much more accurate, I'd say.

LOL I just took a class with a dietician in France and she classed pizza as a vegatable, too. All the tomato sauce, you see.

So, it's not just the USA.

OMG. Just OMG.

Wow, has he, like, not evolved at all in all the years he has been drawing! So boring and always ugly to behold. Who would buy a magazine with THAT on the cover? Really, why is anyone shocked that the NYorker didn't want it? LOL After all, it is their right to decide what to publish. Crumb has certainly had drawings refused before. No big deal.

Oh those creative people at google! What a hoot they are.

Of course, they still can't seem to manage anything really nice for any single holiday that might have anything to do with American patriotism, but, hey, they've got Halloween down pat.

Why all the hype over world population? It just gives certain people an excuse to try to make other people feel guilty about having children.

If people don't have enough to eat, it's not because of the growing world population. Man can grow or collect what he needs to eat.

It's political. Some countries aren't all that interested in helping their citizens make a decent life for themselves. That's why some people go hungry.