21 ms·

The Parachute Generation

110 points by kercker 10y ago

Waterluvian 10y ago
It seems like what these parents really want for their kids is enculturation, but they don't realise it. A western education on its own is still rather limiting when it comes to career and life success.
- beachstartup 10y ago
  > but they don't realise it. it's hilarious you think that people who send their teenage kids to live overseas indefinitely and pay $40k/year for a basic high school education "don't realize" what they're doing.
  - throwawayish 10y ago
    No, this is often about having a working exit strategy. Similar things happen in many countries right now, usually by getting a/the pregnant wife into the country, getting citizenship for the child and thus at least residency rights for both parents. Also moving assets continouosly out of China to safer countries. Obviously this is all very expensive, since they need to do it without the state noticing, ie. lots of bribing.
    - freddie_mercury 10y ago
      That seems pretty implausible that this is happening in many countries. Only 30 countries on earth have birthright citizenship the way you describe. Of those 30 only the US and Canada are developed nations. The rest are countries like: Mexico, Fiji, and Guatemala.
      - throwawayish 10y ago
        In most European countries it's much easier to get citizenship if a) stayed a while and b) gave birth to a child. Similarly it's easier for the other parent to get citizenship or permanent residence under these conditions. But yeah, I didn't describe it very accurately. From what people told me the US is/was one of the prime targets, will be interesting to see if that changes with Trump. Perhaps more come to Europe instead.
      - gumby 10y ago
        Hey, Australia is developed nation as well! Maybe not as much as Canada, but more than Mexico or the USA.
        goodcanadian 10y ago
        Australia does not have birthright citizenship. I looked it up when we were living in Sydney, and my wife was pregnant.
        gumby 10y ago
        Interesting, you now have to live in Australia until you're 10. That didn't used to be the case. Thanks.
    - lovich 10y ago
      Anchor babies don't let parents stay in the US. The government will happily deport the foreign parents and the US child to stay with the parents. The anchor baby can eventually bring their parents over, but its a 21 year wait. https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/parents/bringing-parents-live-united-states-permanent-residents https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/parents/brin...
      - DrScump 10y ago
        You seem to be unaware of DAPA. And even in cases without DAPA eligibility, a USA-born child would not be "deported" in your scenario.
        lovich 10y ago
        I was unaware of it, but reading through the wikipedia summary, its a recently(less than 10 years) passed law, that has been tied up in the courts for most of its possible existence? I agree that if it passes through the judiciary intact, then it changes things. Currently however, what people would call anchor babies do not provide the benefit most people would think exists
    - thr123987 10y ago
      There's even a mandarin romcom around that plot. 'Finding Mr Right' I think.
  - gambiting 10y ago
    So my parents sent my sister to a private boarding school in the UK(we're not from UK), paying more than $40k/year for the privilege, and the be honest with you, they didn't know exactly what to expect. For them, it was just getting her the best possible opportunity in life, the connections and the ability to go to any university she would like to after. But they genuinely had no idea how the British education system works. I would say it was a huge gamble as well, since we are definitely not millionaires and sending her to that school consumed 100% of their disposable income, without any guarantee it would result in what they hoped it would. I would say my sister has gained tremendously from attending that school, but in a way, apart from knowing that school X is the best school in the country, my parents really "didn't realise" what they were doing, in a sense. So it's no surprise to me that Chinese parents sending their kids to US "don't realise what they are doing" - they just want to give their kids the best chance in life.
  - wpietri 10y ago
    Did you read the article? It opens with a story is about a guy sending his 16-year-old son to Oxford because he likes the sound of a degree from there. Not Oxford in the UK. Oxford MI, which is a village in a rural area north of Detroit. I'm from Michigan and I have a hard time believing that this guy knows what he's doing. Oxford HS isn't even in the top 100 high schools in Michigan: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/michigan/rankings http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/michigan/r... Even were the school excellent, I don't think a village of 3,500 people is the best place for a foreign student to get American acculturation. In the 10k town I lived in for a while, the exchange students really struggled compared with the ones where I lived later, in a near-city suburban area. There was a lot more for them to do, the average resident was more broad-minded, and there was a greater variety of people for them to meet.
    - autokad 10y ago
      not sure if they had it in mind, but immigrant coming through a struggling school outside of Detroit has a good story behind it. And you have to admit, after scanning thousands of applications Oxford will draw your attention even if for a second. Good SEO
      - mcguire 10y ago
        Then he can go to the Michigan Institute of Technology and put MIT on his résumé?
        mtanski 10y ago
        The guy ended up going to Pen State after he finished HS. So I would say it worked out pretty well, regardless of above sarcasm.
      - prostoalex 10y ago
        Also a business model of http://berkeleycollege.edu http://berkeleycollege.edu and a few others.
    - jmknoll 10y ago
- coldtea 10y ago
  >It seems like what these parents really want for their kids is enculturation, but they don't realise it. A western education on its own is still rather limiting when it comes to career and life success. You'd be surprised. Those asian kids will do far better than university and job-wise than most american ones in the same high schools -- because of sheer determination (and parental pressure). As for life success, that's not guaranteed even if you are a millionaire, so it's a moot point.
Toenex 10y ago
Watching my own children go through the education system here in the UK I have noticed how much more of a qualification system it is compared to when I was at school/college in the 1970's & 1980's. Education seems to be something you try to get along the way to qualifications.
- tonyedgecombe 10y ago
  I went to school in the UK in the 70's/80's and it was shit, I'd have given my right arm for what my children have had (from a state school).
  - gaius 10y ago
    Agreed. Any success I have achieved in life has been despite my British state education, not because of it!
- coldtea 10y ago
  >Education seems to be something you try to get along the way to qualifications. Which then mean much much less than what they did in the 70s and 80s (due to "qualifications inflation"). And even the best of them (Phds and the like) can leave you with no job prospects.
  - kwhitefoot 10y ago
    I went through my education in the UK starting at the age of five in 1960 and I think it is important to remember that education then varied dramatically from place to place. When I describe the schools that I attended many of my acquaintances from other parts of the country react with surprise that my schools were all comprehensives yet had strict discipline (though not obsessed with uniform minutiae as many seem to be now), a strong work ethic, a lot of after school activities, etc., and they encouraged us to be ambitious and creative. Many of my acquaintances in contrast describe schools of the time that were just as bad as any horror story you see in the Daily Mail today. My only knowledge of UK schools now is from the UK online press and if I didn't constantly remind myself that schools are not all the same I might easily believe their sweeping generalisations. Edit: lived in Norway for the last thirty years and all my children went to Norwegian schools.
beachstartup 10y ago
this has been happening since the 90s. there were at least 2 or 3 of these kids at my high school in california.
- huac 10y ago
  Although not in as organized of a way
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    People tend to organize over time. Moreover, this is a strong side of capitalism - where there's lots of demand for something, eventually someone will start offering it as a service, in exchange for money.
manarth 10y ago
Korbin’s Chinese housemate, Oscar, spent several thousand dollars on a laptop so powerful that it blew out the fuses in their host family’s house. I was fairly engrossed in the story, until that sentence. The jarring hyperbole of "a laptop so powerful that it blew the fuses" - it makes me question how much of the rest of the story is poetic licence.
- autokad 10y ago
  You can certainly do that with a PC, especially on a circuit with already a lot of load on it. one of those 10-20lb laptops with docking station + multiple monitors? seems possible to me
  - manarth 10y ago
    "especially on a circuit with already a lot of load on it" That's basically my point: sure, plugging something in can blow a fuse, but either the device is faulty, the circuit itself is faulty, or the circuit is already near capacity. If it's a laptop, a docking station, speakers, multiple monitors, all plugged into a socket extension, plugged into a single outlet - even then, I wouldn't expect it to trip the fuse unless the circuit was already well on the way to overload. If a circuit is so close to overload, it could be tripped simply by plugging in a phone charger, so the super-expensive mega-powerful laptop isn't really relevant.
    - autokad 10y ago
      i see your point, a laptop or computer alone is not likely to trip a fuse, but when you got a 20 amp capacity and you plug in a 5 amp laptop system, thats meaningful. after buying a new alien ware, I tripped a fuse that wasn't tripped in years with a 'normal pc'. one could argue it wasn't the pc's fault, as there was a lot of stuff on that circuit, but one could also just as easily say the opposite.
      - toss1941 10y ago
        Not just as easily, since it's virtually impossible for any laptop made today to trip a properly working and average in every way circuit.
narrator 10y ago
My Masters program was about 80% Chinese nationals. I became friends with a few of them despite the language barrier. I like hanging out with people from other countries because it's a very cheap way to vacation at home. 'A' was a guy, about 23 years old, not very talented as a programmer, though there were some great ones in the group. He did not understand that plagarism was wrong. He would copy paste wikipedia and I'd point out that that was not allowed and he handed it in anyway and the teacher would read him the riot act. I think he got a C anyway. He had an idealistic worship of American culture and really wanted to be friends, but his personality was as bland as can be. Guy went to an all boys school in China and so he said one of the main reason he picked school X was that there were a lot of women there and his TOEFL scores were good enough for them to let him in. 'B' was a very upbeat and enthusiastic young lady who would always wear hats that said "Genius" is Chinese. Lots of energy, always got projects done on time. Told me she took a semester off to have a baby. I was thinking, "wow, that's odd, a very career focused ambitious woman having a baby in her early 20s". Then I thought the politically incorrect thought (downvotes!) that this was an anchor baby, except not the penniless economic refugee type. Ahh good for her, I think she'll be a great addition to our country.
- Cerium 10y ago
  Early babies are also a culture thing. In China as soon as you get married you are expected to have a kid, and that you will go back to work soon and that your grandparents will help a lot.
  - pasquinelli 10y ago
    did you mean your grandparents or your child's grandparents? i'm just imagining my grandpa helping out with my first born, (my grandma was dead at that point, my grandpa wasn't far behind), and it seems like maybe a bit much.
    - icebraining 10y ago
      Remember that if everyone has children in their early 20s, the kid's greatgrandparents will only be in their late 60s/early 70s.
saycheese 10y ago
Anyone know examples of major companies providing these services with URLs to their websites? It's fine if there in English, Chinese, etc.
- jmknoll 10y ago
  I work for a related company in the industry, based in Shanghai. Would be happy to chat/answer any questions about the work.
  - saycheese 10y ago
    Mainly just interested in seeing a few notable companies real online marketing materials.
losteverything 10y ago
There is gold in being a host family. $1800 a month. Or more. Paid by the School. Little old ladies with an extra bedroom hosting a young Chinese boy. Often when they turn driving age I see them in a new car. Over 200 are enrolled at the regional college prep Catholic school Host families are a secret way to make good money. EDIT: its not airbnb-esque. You don't hand over a key. They are children. Hosts can't go away for the weekend. They provide / cook meals or shop or take student to the store for their own food.
- kelukelugames 10y ago
  How do I become a host family?
  - losteverything 10y ago
    Call the school?? What I'm familiar with is the church newsletter (or diocese) asks for interested families to be hosts. Two academic workers at the school are hosts. Plus the reitred lady I mentioned. After one graduated another comes right behind . Many hosts are alums too.
- notadoc 10y ago
  $1800/month to host a foreign kid while they're in school? That sounds unlikely and dubious, maybe 1/3 of that amount is more realistic. But if it were true, poorer families who are struggling financially should be made aware of this, you'd have millions sign up to host. It'd likely be a good cultural experience for both sides too.
  - hkmurakami 10y ago
    Certainly not all, but catholic prep schools can have tuitions of $30,000+ in some cases so in that case the numbers are reasonable as a passthrough to the foreign parents.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - 10y ago
philip1209 10y ago
Non-mobile link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/magazine/the-parachute-generation.html?_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/magazine/the-parachute-ge...
princetontiger 10y ago
Western countries are the best on earth
bawana 10y ago
looks like Trump university might get a second wind.

110 points by kercker 10y ago

It seems like what these parents really want for their kids is enculturation, but they don't realise it. A western education on its own is still rather limiting when it comes to career and life success.

beachstartup 10y ago
> but they don't realise it. it's hilarious you think that people who send their teenage kids to live overseas indefinitely and pay $40k/year for a basic high school education "don't realize" what they're doing.
- throwawayish 10y ago
  No, this is often about having a working exit strategy. Similar things happen in many countries right now, usually by getting a/the pregnant wife into the country, getting citizenship for the child and thus at least residency rights for both parents. Also moving assets continouosly out of China to safer countries. Obviously this is all very expensive, since they need to do it without the state noticing, ie. lots of bribing.
  - freddie_mercury 10y ago
    That seems pretty implausible that this is happening in many countries. Only 30 countries on earth have birthright citizenship the way you describe. Of those 30 only the US and Canada are developed nations. The rest are countries like: Mexico, Fiji, and Guatemala.
    - throwawayish 10y ago
      In most European countries it's much easier to get citizenship if a) stayed a while and b) gave birth to a child. Similarly it's easier for the other parent to get citizenship or permanent residence under these conditions. But yeah, I didn't describe it very accurately. From what people told me the US is/was one of the prime targets, will be interesting to see if that changes with Trump. Perhaps more come to Europe instead.
    - gumby 10y ago
      Hey, Australia is developed nation as well! Maybe not as much as Canada, but more than Mexico or the USA.
      - goodcanadian 10y ago
        Australia does not have birthright citizenship. I looked it up when we were living in Sydney, and my wife was pregnant.
        gumby 10y ago
        Interesting, you now have to live in Australia until you're 10. That didn't used to be the case. Thanks.
  - lovich 10y ago
    Anchor babies don't let parents stay in the US. The government will happily deport the foreign parents and the US child to stay with the parents. The anchor baby can eventually bring their parents over, but its a 21 year wait. https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/parents/bringing-parents-live-united-states-permanent-residents https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/parents/brin...
    - DrScump 10y ago
      You seem to be unaware of DAPA. And even in cases without DAPA eligibility, a USA-born child would not be "deported" in your scenario.
      - lovich 10y ago
        I was unaware of it, but reading through the wikipedia summary, its a recently(less than 10 years) passed law, that has been tied up in the courts for most of its possible existence? I agree that if it passes through the judiciary intact, then it changes things. Currently however, what people would call anchor babies do not provide the benefit most people would think exists
  - thr123987 10y ago
    There's even a mandarin romcom around that plot. 'Finding Mr Right' I think.
- gambiting 10y ago
  So my parents sent my sister to a private boarding school in the UK(we're not from UK), paying more than $40k/year for the privilege, and the be honest with you, they didn't know exactly what to expect. For them, it was just getting her the best possible opportunity in life, the connections and the ability to go to any university she would like to after. But they genuinely had no idea how the British education system works. I would say it was a huge gamble as well, since we are definitely not millionaires and sending her to that school consumed 100% of their disposable income, without any guarantee it would result in what they hoped it would. I would say my sister has gained tremendously from attending that school, but in a way, apart from knowing that school X is the best school in the country, my parents really "didn't realise" what they were doing, in a sense. So it's no surprise to me that Chinese parents sending their kids to US "don't realise what they are doing" - they just want to give their kids the best chance in life.
- wpietri 10y ago
  Did you read the article? It opens with a story is about a guy sending his 16-year-old son to Oxford because he likes the sound of a degree from there. Not Oxford in the UK. Oxford MI, which is a village in a rural area north of Detroit. I'm from Michigan and I have a hard time believing that this guy knows what he's doing. Oxford HS isn't even in the top 100 high schools in Michigan: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/michigan/rankings http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/michigan/r... Even were the school excellent, I don't think a village of 3,500 people is the best place for a foreign student to get American acculturation. In the 10k town I lived in for a while, the exchange students really struggled compared with the ones where I lived later, in a near-city suburban area. There was a lot more for them to do, the average resident was more broad-minded, and there was a greater variety of people for them to meet.
  - autokad 10y ago
    not sure if they had it in mind, but immigrant coming through a struggling school outside of Detroit has a good story behind it. And you have to admit, after scanning thousands of applications Oxford will draw your attention even if for a second. Good SEO
    - mcguire 10y ago
      Then he can go to the Michigan Institute of Technology and put MIT on his résumé?
      - mtanski 10y ago
        The guy ended up going to Pen State after he finished HS. So I would say it worked out pretty well, regardless of above sarcasm.
    - prostoalex 10y ago
      Also a business model of http://berkeleycollege.edu http://berkeleycollege.edu and a few others.
  - jmknoll 10y ago
coldtea 10y ago
>It seems like what these parents really want for their kids is enculturation, but they don't realise it. A western education on its own is still rather limiting when it comes to career and life success. You'd be surprised. Those asian kids will do far better than university and job-wise than most american ones in the same high schools -- because of sheer determination (and parental pressure). As for life success, that's not guaranteed even if you are a millionaire, so it's a moot point.

Toenex 10y ago

Watching my own children go through the education system here in the UK I have noticed how much more of a qualification system it is compared to when I was at school/college in the 1970's & 1980's. Education seems to be something you try to get along the way to qualifications.

tonyedgecombe 10y ago
I went to school in the UK in the 70's/80's and it was shit, I'd have given my right arm for what my children have had (from a state school).
- gaius 10y ago
  Agreed. Any success I have achieved in life has been despite my British state education, not because of it!
coldtea 10y ago
>Education seems to be something you try to get along the way to qualifications. Which then mean much much less than what they did in the 70s and 80s (due to "qualifications inflation"). And even the best of them (Phds and the like) can leave you with no job prospects.
- kwhitefoot 10y ago
  I went through my education in the UK starting at the age of five in 1960 and I think it is important to remember that education then varied dramatically from place to place. When I describe the schools that I attended many of my acquaintances from other parts of the country react with surprise that my schools were all comprehensives yet had strict discipline (though not obsessed with uniform minutiae as many seem to be now), a strong work ethic, a lot of after school activities, etc., and they encouraged us to be ambitious and creative. Many of my acquaintances in contrast describe schools of the time that were just as bad as any horror story you see in the Daily Mail today. My only knowledge of UK schools now is from the UK online press and if I didn't constantly remind myself that schools are not all the same I might easily believe their sweeping generalisations. Edit: lived in Norway for the last thirty years and all my children went to Norwegian schools.

beachstartup 10y ago

this has been happening since the 90s. there were at least 2 or 3 of these kids at my high school in california.

huac 10y ago
Although not in as organized of a way
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  People tend to organize over time. Moreover, this is a strong side of capitalism - where there's lots of demand for something, eventually someone will start offering it as a service, in exchange for money.

manarth 10y ago

Korbin’s Chinese housemate, Oscar, spent several thousand dollars on a laptop so powerful that it blew out the fuses in their host family’s house. I was fairly engrossed in the story, until that sentence. The jarring hyperbole of "a laptop so powerful that it blew the fuses" - it makes me question how much of the rest of the story is poetic licence.

autokad 10y ago
You can certainly do that with a PC, especially on a circuit with already a lot of load on it. one of those 10-20lb laptops with docking station + multiple monitors? seems possible to me
- manarth 10y ago
  "especially on a circuit with already a lot of load on it" That's basically my point: sure, plugging something in can blow a fuse, but either the device is faulty, the circuit itself is faulty, or the circuit is already near capacity. If it's a laptop, a docking station, speakers, multiple monitors, all plugged into a socket extension, plugged into a single outlet - even then, I wouldn't expect it to trip the fuse unless the circuit was already well on the way to overload. If a circuit is so close to overload, it could be tripped simply by plugging in a phone charger, so the super-expensive mega-powerful laptop isn't really relevant.
  - autokad 10y ago
    i see your point, a laptop or computer alone is not likely to trip a fuse, but when you got a 20 amp capacity and you plug in a 5 amp laptop system, thats meaningful. after buying a new alien ware, I tripped a fuse that wasn't tripped in years with a 'normal pc'. one could argue it wasn't the pc's fault, as there was a lot of stuff on that circuit, but one could also just as easily say the opposite.
    - toss1941 10y ago
      Not just as easily, since it's virtually impossible for any laptop made today to trip a properly working and average in every way circuit.

narrator 10y ago

My Masters program was about 80% Chinese nationals. I became friends with a few of them despite the language barrier. I like hanging out with people from other countries because it's a very cheap way to vacation at home. 'A' was a guy, about 23 years old, not very talented as a programmer, though there were some great ones in the group. He did not understand that plagarism was wrong. He would copy paste wikipedia and I'd point out that that was not allowed and he handed it in anyway and the teacher would read him the riot act. I think he got a C anyway. He had an idealistic worship of American culture and really wanted to be friends, but his personality was as bland as can be. Guy went to an all boys school in China and so he said one of the main reason he picked school X was that there were a lot of women there and his TOEFL scores were good enough for them to let him in. 'B' was a very upbeat and enthusiastic young lady who would always wear hats that said "Genius" is Chinese. Lots of energy, always got projects done on time. Told me she took a semester off to have a baby. I was thinking, "wow, that's odd, a very career focused ambitious woman having a baby in her early 20s". Then I thought the politically incorrect thought (downvotes!) that this was an anchor baby, except not the penniless economic refugee type. Ahh good for her, I think she'll be a great addition to our country.

Cerium 10y ago
Early babies are also a culture thing. In China as soon as you get married you are expected to have a kid, and that you will go back to work soon and that your grandparents will help a lot.
- pasquinelli 10y ago
  did you mean your grandparents or your child's grandparents? i'm just imagining my grandpa helping out with my first born, (my grandma was dead at that point, my grandpa wasn't far behind), and it seems like maybe a bit much.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    Remember that if everyone has children in their early 20s, the kid's greatgrandparents will only be in their late 60s/early 70s.

saycheese 10y ago

Anyone know examples of major companies providing these services with URLs to their websites? It's fine if there in English, Chinese, etc.

jmknoll 10y ago
I work for a related company in the industry, based in Shanghai. Would be happy to chat/answer any questions about the work.
- saycheese 10y ago
  Mainly just interested in seeing a few notable companies real online marketing materials.

losteverything 10y ago

There is gold in being a host family. $1800 a month. Or more. Paid by the School. Little old ladies with an extra bedroom hosting a young Chinese boy. Often when they turn driving age I see them in a new car. Over 200 are enrolled at the regional college prep Catholic school Host families are a secret way to make good money. EDIT: its not airbnb-esque. You don't hand over a key. They are children. Hosts can't go away for the weekend. They provide / cook meals or shop or take student to the store for their own food.

kelukelugames 10y ago
How do I become a host family?
- losteverything 10y ago
  Call the school?? What I'm familiar with is the church newsletter (or diocese) asks for interested families to be hosts. Two academic workers at the school are hosts. Plus the reitred lady I mentioned. After one graduated another comes right behind . Many hosts are alums too.
notadoc 10y ago
$1800/month to host a foreign kid while they're in school? That sounds unlikely and dubious, maybe 1/3 of that amount is more realistic. But if it were true, poorer families who are struggling financially should be made aware of this, you'd have millions sign up to host. It'd likely be a good cultural experience for both sides too.
- hkmurakami 10y ago
  Certainly not all, but catholic prep schools can have tuitions of $30,000+ in some cases so in that case the numbers are reasonable as a passthrough to the foreign parents.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- 10y ago

philip1209 10y ago

Non-mobile link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/magazine/the-parachute-generation.html?_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/magazine/the-parachute-ge...

princetontiger 10y ago

Western countries are the best on earth

bawana 10y ago

looks like Trump university might get a second wind.