so why is Holland such a better place to raise kids?
Education: schools are (still - they've been doing their best to wreck the system over the past decades) a lot better here. Less catering to the lowest common denominator, more differentiation to teach individual kids at the level they profit from the most.
Security: the overall environment for kids is safer, both at school and outside of it. Sure we have the odd wacko around as well, but it's a lot harder to get your hands on weapons of the kinds used in and around schools in the US...
Health care: it's free, high-quality, and all kids are tracked pro-actively to catch any problems early, aside from a few religious wackos that leave all that stuff in the hands of god (of course we have some of those too).
Socio-economically: income and financial support are such that latch-key kids are a rarity here, compared to the US. It's not (yet) as much of a dog-eat-dog society here yet, though it used to be better. Nothing wrong with genuinely caring for one another on a society level.
Metal
: most bands love to play here and pass through for a couple of dates. And since it's a puny little country, that means there's always a good show in driving distance!
But anyways, it's all relative, and it's not exactly paradise (whatever that may be to you) out here, either, on top of which things aren't improving - more the opposite, unfortunately. But it's decent, still, and the choice for letting the kids grow up here instead of in the US was very easy to make. Even if I miss the Sound, the Cascades, hikes, sourdough bread, cheap Thai food, the astronomy department, the Ave, ...
