role of children in japan

The role of children in Japan may be quite different from the roles of children in the US. In Japan, the parents have the tendency to put too much pressure on the children. The parents in Japan have a way of thinking that their children's behavior is what judges them. Therefore, parents are very strict on what school the children go to, what sports they play, and how they act in school. They will try very hard to put their children into a high level school in order to prove that they are good, dedicated parents. This leads to the children feeling too much pressure. Some children are made to go to cram schools after school few times a week from elementary school. I personally don't like this idea.
It seems that in the US, this does not apply. Largely because there aren't entrance exams for highschool, the children aren't forced to study at cram school or forced to keep a high GPA for a good resume. In the US, I feel that children are more free. They don't have to worry too much about keeping a good reputation at school, and the parents aren't too noisy about this either. In Japan, parents are very fussy about their childrens reputation because it has tremedous affect when taking the entrance exams.
Though the idea of making their children keep a good reputation and grades are good, I feel that the situation in Japan is too intense. They should give their children little more slack, and never force their children to do something they don't want to do.