text: I suspect there is something far more cultural involved.  Laugh if you must, but the Germans (and Europeans) have a discipline in their lives that we do not have in Canada.  We were down south recently and noted that the German, French and Scandinavian families not only had their kids gripped so that they weren't dominating the place, but they also took time out throughout the day to read with them and do school work.  The Canadian and American families on vacation together parked their kids in the pool, drew straws to see who would watch them and then headed to the bar while their kids started shrieking.
  
  Europeans take their role in their kids' lives seriously and as such they are truly partners with state-provided programs that reflect and compliment the home lives.  In Canada our special snowflake approach has given us weak social programs that are basically designed to shield kids rather than help them leaving them with little more than their misspelled names to face the future