One Child Carrying All the Hopes

I am a girl. I have no brothers or sisters, and I am the only child in my family. In 1979, one policy was established which had a deep influence in my childhood. This effective policy was constituted by Deng Xiao Ping, and it was called the one child policy. The purpose of the policy was to control the population of China because the population rate had grown too fast, so the government decided that each family was allowed to have one child. Due to the One Child Policy, many things had changed around me.

Once the policy was established, the nightmare of my family had just begun. My father is the only son in his family, so the responsibility to continue the family’s next generation had fallen to his shoulders. Due to that, my gender presented an important issue for our family’s future. Unfortunately, I was born as a girl, which had destroyed all the hopes of my grandma. She thought that a boy could bring up the happiness of the family, but girl was a sign of sadness. In addition, my grandma grumbled at my mother all the time because my parents could not have another child after me. The fights also hurt my feelings. It was apparent that my grandma did not like me. I did not get any love from my grandmother, and that created a darkness in my childhood.

Another effect of the One Child Policy was that I grew up with pressure. Unlike my grandmother, my parents do not really care about my gender because I am the only one daughter they have, and they love me very much. They have given twice of their love to me. They chose a prestigious school for me, and they taught me how to become a proper lady. Anything I like or want, they will try they best to support me. Even though I got many things from my parents, the inside of me was empty, and pressures surrounded me. I was asked to be a disciplined girl. I needed to act like a princess, no foul language, no bad behavior, every little step had to keep up my noble image. I needed to get perfect scores on tests. Everything I did needed to be perfect. There was a constant message sent out to me “I need to be a successful lady; my father and mother’s hopes lay on me”. From that moment on, I knew that the future of my parents and the way to make my grandma accept me was to be successful.

The last effect of the One Child Policy is that I had a lonely childhood. I remember when I was young, I always ask my parents why I did not have a brother or a sister, and then they always told me that the law did not allow them to have more children. I have always wished I could have a brother, so I would not be alone. I was independent at a very young age. Because I do not have any siblings, I used to spend a lot of time by myself. I went to school alone and played with myself in different roles. The memory in my childhood was only me. Sometimes, I was jealous of the people who have brothers or sisters because they could share, they could go to school and they could play together.

I often dream about, what if the One Child Policy had never been established? My life would be different. My grandmother would love me; she would makes a healthy lunch and wait for me go home. There would be a peaceful world around my family. No more complaining and no more crying. Also, I would not be alone any more. I may have brothers or sisters, like other people who have brothers and sisters; together we could share the burden and share the felicity.