Tocqueville's America, Europe, and Morality

Alexis de Tocqueville records the emotions, actions, and organization of America in the first half of the 19th century. He analyzes American family and gender roles, and contrasts what he finds to his understanding of generalized European familial and gender trends.

He distinguishes greatly between the more "aristocratic" social traditions of Europe in the early Victorian Era, and those of the "demcoratic" Americans of the same time period.

He observes the American and European approach to education of young women, and the youth in general. He says:

"In France...education of women commonly receive a reserved, retired, and almost cloistral education, as they did in aristocratic times; and then they are suddenly abandoned, without a guide and without assistance, in the midst of all the irregularities inseparable from democratic society. The Americans are more consistent. They have found out that in a democracy the independence of individuals cannot fail to be very great, youth premature, tastes ill-restrained, customs fleeting, public opinion often unsettled and powerless, paternal authority weak, and marital authority contested.

[Americans] held that the surer way was to teach her the art of combating those passions for herself. As they could not prevent her virtue from being exposed to frequent danger, they determined that she should know how best to defend it; and more reliance was placed on the free vigor of her will than on safeguards.

Thus the vices and dangers of society are early revealed to her; as she sees them clearly, she views them without illusions, and braves them without fear; for she is full of reliance on her own strength, and her reliance seems to be shared by all [Americans] who are about her.

Far from hiding the corruptions of the world from her, they prefer that she should see them at once and train herself to shun them; and they hold it of more importance to protect her conduct than to be over-scrupulous of her innocence. "

The approach taken here by 19th century Americans toward education is to encourage the independence, awareness, rationality, and moral decision making by American women, and American youth since such edcuation by the parents, taking place in the family, would be imposed upon all children.

He charges Europeans with being of a different, or opposite mentality: encouraging the display of "childish timidity or ignorance" and promoting the "innocent and ingenuous grace which usually attends the European woman in the transition from girlhood to youth."

The America he describes here, in contrast to Europe, could not be more different in our day and age. If anything, the roles between Europeans and Americans are reversed concerning the aforementioned individuality and pre-mature adulthood of youth.

The public policies of a people, if approved and enacted through a democratic system, should reflect the morality of the majority - or at least the ideals of a people. Thus, how the law dictates individuals may interact with the "irregularities", "vices and dangers of society" reflects the public's moral attitude toward these vices.

How Europeans today expose their youth to these vices is almost how Americans were described as doing so almost two centuries ago.

How Americans and Europeans choose to expose and prepare our youth for alcohol says much about the reversal of the two sides of the Atlantic.

For example, the United Kingdom has a legal drinking age of 5 years old, and a minimum public drinking age of 16. Almost all European countries have similar laws allowing alcohol consumption by children in the home, and alcohol purchasing ages around 18. The clear disparity in the public-private consumption laws reflects the European family's belief of having the freedom to educate their children about alcohol before becoming an adult.

The use of these freedoms were proved by a European Union special report stated that "nearly all 15-16 year old students have drunk alcohol...on average beginning to drink at 12½ years of age". Most of this consumption occurs either in their own home or another's home, and was the same for girls, the report said. The report said drinking in restaurants and bars (with parents) was also common.

All states ban the purchase and consumption of alcohol in public under the age of 21, with almost all banning private consumption in the home under 18. The federal government of the United States penalizes states that do not honor a 21 drinking age minimum.

As one article put it "with the focus on education about safe drinking instead of restriction...[Europeans] claim many problems are avoided. Though the per capita consumption of alcohol in countries like France, Spain, and Portugal is greater than in the U.S., the rate of alcoholism and alcohol abuse is lower. This comes from education of gradual drinking, which leads to less incidents of young adults getting drunk." Most Americans do not think this way.

A European Union Report says "In comparison to the rest of the world, the countries of Europe are less likely to have a number of [alcohol control] policies, especially those based on market restrictions or taxation." European belief about a wide exposure and recognition of such "temptations" is very similar to Tocqueville's percieved American beliefs.As evidenced by and in addition to the aforementioned quotes, Tocqueville very directly mentions American and European attitudes towards pre-marital sex and the education of women about sex. He says American women understand "the costs of pleasing" and protect their "virtue" with reason and a strong moral consciousness.

To what extent this mentality is fostered by education in the family is questionable since most families do not actively discuss such topics with children. Most sex education takes place through the school, and only to a much lesser extent, the media.

The Guttmacher Institute says the following about U.S. sex education:

In 1999, one in four sex education teachers taught abstinence as the only way to prevent pregnancy and STIs.

On top of the 31% of U.S. school districts that only permit abstinence sex education, the other 51% of school districts have a policy to teach abstinence as the preferred option for teens.

"There is currently no federal program dedicated to supporting comprehensive sex education that teaches young people about both abstinence and contraception". However, "there are three federal programs dedicated to funding restrictive abstinence-only education...the total funding for these programs is $176 million for FY 2006."

Abstinence education has its grounds in moral education - moral education being a very American characteristic and approach to vices, according to Tocqueville. Abstinence education teaches youths about the presence of pre-marital sexual opportunities in reality, and it also teaches these youths to recognize it and avoid it (to "see it at once...to shun them" as Tocqueville says). However, the fact that so many school districts refuse to teach youths how to deal with such opportunities responsibly, using reason reinforced by education, serves to reveal that Americans may no longer be arming their youths with the "reason" and trusting "the free vigor of [their] will" to make decisions.

Europeans seem to be doing a better job at educating children about the subject in public schools. Most countries have mandated sex-education since the 1970s. In France, "schools are expected to provide 30 to 40 hours of sex education, and pass out condoms, to students in grades eight and nine." The government also launched information campaigns on contraception with TV, radio spots and the distribution of five million leaflets on contraception to high school students. For example, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Finland offer mandatory comprehensive sex education, with the Dutch system seen as the most successful at lowering teenage pregnancy.

These modern trends may hint at the reversal of stereotypes between Europe and America. Or in fact, just a sign that Europe has changed, while America remains the same, with the difference being discouraging "immoral" activity through law instead of social pressure. Either way, the use of laws and government policy to enforce morality in America can also be seen however, as a reversal of our trust in the independence and individuality of Americans - thus supporting the conclusion that America no longer teaches its youth to act independently and responsibly, but to act as a great power says so, similar to the religious and social pressures that confined Europeans two centuries ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education

http://ec.europa.eu/health-eu/doc/alcoholineu_chap9_en.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alcohol_laws_of_the_United_States_by_state
http://www.drinkingandyou.com/site/uk/child.htm

http://www.articlesbase.com/addictions-articles/are-us-college-students-drinking-more-than-their-european-counterparts-886086.html

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/should-wine-be-a-family-affair/
http://www.youthrights.org/dastatelist.php
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_sexEd2006.html

Pictures:

http://www.inkcinct.com.au/web/cartoons/2007/2007-775-failing-sex-education.jpg

http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/wp-content/photos/wine_dinner.jpg