Left-handed child

My Japanese wife is actually left-handed, but writes with her right hand as her parents converted her. Recently I have been noticing that our 2 yr old daughter uses her left hand more than her right. I would rather have her converted too while she is still young, but my wife disagrees. I think being left-handed will be impractical and inconvenient for her especially in Japan.

What would you do?

It is no longer considered necessary to "convert" left-handed children in Japan, (or anywhere else actually). There are also theories that forcing a child to use the hand that is not natural for him/her to use can negatively affect the child's development, so do some research if you do decide to go ahead with it and make sure you know the possible outcomes.

My sister-in-law and a number of my Japanese friends are left-handed, no-one ever tried to convert them, and they seem to live ordinary, happy lives, Why do you feel it's so necessary?

Brady,

What would I do? I wouldn't do anything, as I am also under the impression that forcing children to use the wrong hand unnaturally can actually actually cause more harm than good.
If your wife was forced to become right-handed when she was young and disapproves now, then I would have thought her opinion is worth listening seriously to.

Why do you feel it's so necessary?
It is very inconvenient writing kanji with the correct stroke orders if she writes with her left hand. Also, she will be smudging everything.

If your wife was forced to become right-handed when she was young and disapproves now, then I would have thought her opinion is worth listening seriously to.
Other than writing, my wife does most other tasks (cutting, sewing, holding rackets, chopsticks etc) with her left hand. I am wondering whether our daughter got influenced by her? I always encourage our daughter to use her right hand while my wife just lets her use any hand she wants. Our daughter never protests when asked to use her right hand, but my wife protests whenever she sees me encouraging our daughter to use her right hand. She criticizes me saying that I behave like I am living in the mid-20th century. We are not old at all (we are 30) and I remember most parents tried to encourage their kids to use their right hand back in the 80s and 90s. I just want the best for our daughter, and as this is a right-handed world, it would be better if she is right-handed.

Just FYI, Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners is left-handed. I think some other Japanese players in the Major leagues are too.

Brady,

My 47 year old cousin was converted, but my 19 year old Japanese niece is not and she goes to one of the most prestigious universities in Japan, has too many friends and is a skillful athlete of many sports.

Times have changed. There are way too many left-handed Japanese people today doing so well and having no problem with their daily life or school activities. I also don't understand why you think your daughter would be smudging letters. If she is to write horizontally, there are too many examples of left-handed foreign polititians doing the same. If she is to write Japanese vertically, then being left-handed is an advantage as you'd never touch the written part of the paper.

Btw, comparing baseball players is inappropriate, though. In baseball, being left-handed is an advantage, so right-handed players deliberately convert themselves to left-handed playing. But here is a Japanese list of left-handed celebrities in Japan. Among them are Oscar-winning Ryuichi Sakamoto who plays many instruments, Etsuko Komiya who is a popular news caster, Takeshi Yoro a doctor and author, Tenko Hikita the great magician, and many more.
http://geinoujin.moryou.com/hidari.html

i mean ru serious OP!?! really!!? Im from aus and ive never heard about anyone being forced to convert lol

Wooo this is quite hilarious to me, if u are taking this seriously OP i seriously feel sorry for u and ur family...

Ps. There are alot of advantages being left handed imo

Listen to your wife. She is the one who went through the process of being converted. She is speaking from her experience, and I think it is huge. There are more important things for kids than which hand to use. One of them is the notion of they are accepted for who they they are (regardless of which had is the right hand).

The first thing is; How many people write letters or anything else by hand now. The computer keyboard is either, don’t matter, use both hands. Everyone from delivery people to doctors use the computer in their daily work, and at home. Ask a young person how do they communicate with friends, text on the cell phone, not a letter.

The second thing is; Your wife is an equal partner in your marriage. This being the case she should have an equal say in family decisions, even more say in how the children are raised. You should respect her decisions as she respects yours.

My brother is left handed and he became an engineer. I am right handed and I became a technician. The only problem he had when we were growing up is he had to sit on my left side when we went to a restaurant. If either one of us writes a letter now, unless we use the computer, it is very difficult to read it.

There is a song titled “Watashi No Kare Ha Hidari Kiki” it was sung by Ashoka Megumi on the NHK Kayo show (NHK Song Concert) a while back. I don’t know if she has released a CD with it on. If you can take a listen to it.

As a left-handed person, I find the idea of forcibly "converting" your child offensive. While it is not always the case, it also has the potential to damage your child's development. You're going to take motor skill tasks that come easy to her and make them difficult. You're also going to fundamentally rewire her neurons in unpredictable ways. I suggest you do your research before attempting anything like this.

I'm up to 1,000 written kanji and have been complemented on my form. So don't use that as an excuse.

I have heard of people becoming dislexic because of not using the proper hand. besides when I was her age I did the same. Then someone told me to only use one hand. I went along with that and Now I regret that, and I am trying to become more ambidexterous.

I can draw really well with both hands. does not hurt me in the least.
although I'm just a bit slower with the other hand.

Having a ambidexterous (or left handed) child might be a sign of brilliance.

Thanks for the responses.

My wife and I just had a talk about this situation. I didn't realize that she is really offended knowing that I prefer our daughter to be right-handed. She told me that she was really stressed out and hated being converted. I don't know whether she's exagerating or not because she still does most tasks with her left hand. Other than writing, my wife seldom uses her right hand. I don't quite understand what she was stressed out about?

My wife really loves her mum, but still feels scarred to this day for being forced to write with her right hand. So she doesn't want our daughter to feel the same way in the future. Well, I don't know what else to say so I have given in. If I keep encouraging our daughter to be right-handed, my wife is sure to be unhappy. I am ok with a left-handed child as long as my wife and daughter are happy.

BTW: Do most left-handers detest being converted?

Also, I hardly see left-handed Japanese people.

Brady wrote;
I don't know whether she's exagerating or not because she still does most tasks with her left hand. Other than writing, my wife seldom uses her right hand. I don't quite understand what she was stressed out about?

I've been wondering. Are you perhaps saying that the fact she uses her left hand implies that she was not stressed? To me, it just prooves how much she was stressed about the converting. Your wife hated being excouraged to use her right hand, so now that she is free from that encouragement, she uses her left which is the most comfortable hand for her. It makes total sense to me.

Also, to answer your new question, the current parents' generation and older was commonly converted to use their right hand, so you might not notice many adults using their left hand. Nowadays children aren't converted as much, so if you look carefully at children, you might notice some left-handed ones.

Here's a Google image search on 左利き (left-handed).
http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&rls=com.microsoft%3A*%3AIE-Sea...

When I was growing up in 60s and 70s, it was common for left handed kids to be converted. I think my mom still has that kind of value. You wife knows her mom had a good intention just like you do. But she might be feeling she wasn't accepted as a whole. Anyway, good for you for working this matter out.

it's super distressing to hear this kind of stuff. don't force that on your child.

i was naturally left handed and was forced to do many thing with my right.

unfortunately for me, something got all screwed up and now i write with my left hand, but my penmanship is terrible, play many sports with my right hand, fire guns left handed, use bows and arrows right handed...it's a mess.

let your child's handedness develop naturally.

There have been studies that left handed people are more adaptable, versatile etc.
My Japanese manager is a left hander who was converted as a child but still prefer to use his left hand now.
I remember seeing someone trying to convert their child to a right hander and the poor child was crying...feel so sorry for him.
In this age, as long as the child is healthy, nothing else matters no?

For many many years now the consensus from doctors in the G8 countries is that left-handed children should be left alone. Some kids will try to use their right hand on their own to do a few things and that's OK too but they shouldn't never ever be forced to change..

Here in Canada a lot of people are left handed and they obviously had no problems in their personal and professional lives. A joke is that if one meet an English speaking person abroad and he/ she is left handed he/she is a Canadian!
I am appalled by your old fashioned thinking!!! it smacks of bullyism.. Being a husband and father doesn't mean that you are the lord and master of your family!

I am right handed by the way but use my left hand a lot too (except for writing and my right hand writing is horrible)

My sister is left handed, forced to write right-handed, and struggled NOT with the academia, but with the time it took: it took her SO much longer to write right handed that she didn't finish exam papers in the allotted time.....please, let your child be herself.