Something that stood out to me throughout my time here in Spain is the involvement of children in all facets of life— particularly regarding children’s attendance at late dinners and nights out. In her blog, Sunshine and Siestas, Cat Gaa describes her experience with parenting in Sevilla, mentioning that compared to U.S. children, “Spanish children go to bed extremely late.” This is something that shocked me as well. During Feria de Abril this year, I saw several young children in the casetas dancing with their parents past midnight. I also noticed several older children and teenagers out on the fairgrounds with friends until 4 or 5am— they didn’t seem to have a curfew. Brett Hetherington, author of the blog Homage to BCN describes a similar instance in his post ‘Spain: A Parent’s Paradise?’; he mentions seeing a two-year-old child out at a live music club in Barcelona with their parents at 3am. Parents in Spain seem to have a much more relaxed style, and although this may create an inconsistent sleep schedule for a baby or young child, this freedom enables older children and teenagers to become more integrated into the community and establish their own intrinsically-motivated rules and curfews.
In the U.S., the culture surrounding curfews is much different. When going out, parents typically hire a babysitter to watch the child at home. Young children have rigid bedtimes, typically between 7 and 9pm, and older children may have curfews of 10pm, 11pm, or midnight. Although the use of strict rules can provide parents with greater peace-of-mind, it can limit the children’s sense of autonomy. I remember in class we watched a video on a non-traditional scandinavian school that gave children free-reign of a forest, allowing them to learn on their own accords, and it showed how this school was very beneficial to the children’s development. I’m curious if we would see a similar effect with Spain’s relaxed parenting style, and how this may compare to U.S. children growing up with much stricter parenting.
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