Her book and and this WSJ article created a lot of criticism of this mom's parenting style -

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Can a regimen of no playdates, no TV, no computer games and hours of music practice create happy kids? And what happens when they fight back?

[online.wsj.com]

Some people thought her strictness bordered on abuse --

'Chinese Tiger Mother' Amy Chua -- Is Her Parenting a Form of Child Abuse?

[www.politicsdaily.com]

I think she goes too far with the discipline at the expense of the emotional health of her children.

Agree; I have seen video interviews with her and I'm like, Lady, there's this thing called a happy medium, duh!

Saw this a while ago. It's sick and sad and depressing and, thankfully, rare.

Coco--I hope so...I watched the State of the Union the other night and when I heard about America needing to compete and be the best, it just rankles me. I don't see life as a race to the top. This is a perfect example of creating "human doings" instead of "human beings." Kids get home from school, have a snack and then ten minutes later have to jump in a car and go to some practice. Over-scheduled kids are anxious and they don't develop their creativity because their lives are jam-packed from sunrise to sundown. And of course they go nuts when they leave for college because they are lost without this outer imposition of their time.

I love that -

"human doings" instead of "human beings."

One of my kids had a Chinese girl in her class at school, and the girl told my daughter that her mother hit her and was mean to her - I forgot the details -- and so I told another mother about it, and she said that's just the way the Chinese raise their children, it's their culture, so we needn't worry about it.

@Kid: There was a case in Chicago where a very young Black boy (probably about age 4 or so) who attended a private school in the Chinatown area run by...Chinese teachers. The boy acted up during nap time and the principal duct taped his arms behind him and told him that this is why there is so much shooting in the city. Wow...

I read an article on this earlier and decided mommy dearest sounded like a total loser to me. Having a highly developed skill in an artistic or academic area doesn't necessarily make you a better or happier human ready to cope with the realities of big, strange world, which is what I think the critical role of a parent should be. If your kids require constant bullying or abuse to succeed in arena, that might not be the best place for them.

It's not entirely cultural as not all Asian parents are so success oriented. My next door neighbor was from Japan and her particular slant on parenting was that children should make their mistakes young so that they know better by the time they are older. She often told her kids to put down their books and spend time with their friends because knowing the difference between a bad and a good friend was one of the most important lessons you could master.

Veghunter, where's the "like" button on this thing...

I so agree about the over scheduling these days, my son doesn't have a single scheduled out of school activity and his dad is getting really antsy about it. Apparently we need to have at the very least one thing, something about discipline and regulation or something.

My son does a lot of things, play computer games (great ones actually, his favourite is Minecraft, which is all about constructing things and mining etc.), read books, run, jump and play with his friends, have long talks about the world, science, intelligence etc with me and sometimes his dad, and quiet time to think and learn on his own. In other words, a typical 9/10 year old life, free of too much scheduling and taking time away from the important job of being a kid.

I'd be happy with NO scheduled sports or anything, unless he showed an interest. But he's not like that, and it will be an annoyance for him I'm sure.

I'm all for steering kids down the avenues of interest that they have themselves, not forcing them into activities that are perceived by their parents as 'worthy'.

I have to find my son some kind of science/engineering kids club, now that's something he's get right into.

That woman is a lunatic btw!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2011 01:47PM by klomasius.

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Veghunter, where's the "like" button on this
> thing...


ROFLMAO coco! I end up thinking that on this forum soooooooo often!lol

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

veghunter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I read an article on this earlier and decided
> mommy dearest sounded like a total loser to me.
> Having a highly developed skill in an artistic or
> academic area doesn't necessarily make you a
> better or happier human ready to cope with the
> realities of big, strange world, which is what I
> think the critical role of a parent should be. If
> your kids require constant bullying or abuse to
> succeed in arena, that might not be the best place
> for them.

So well put.
>
> It's not entirely cultural as not all Asian
> parents are so success oriented. My next door
> neighbor was from Japan and her particular slant
> on parenting was that children should make their
> mistakes young so that they know better by the
> time they are older. She often told her kids to
> put down their books and spend time with their
> friends because knowing the difference between a
> bad and a good friend was one of the most
> important lessons you could master.

No, not all Asians are so success oriented, but it sounds as if the Japanese mother you quote above is the exception that proves the rule!

Horsea, that's possible, but I'm not so sure that the high drive for academic and material success, which definitely exists, isn't just in a limited portion of the population (although I am certainly no expert). The concept of reward through meditation, balance, nature, and spirituality is also very prevalent in Asian cultures.

Another article I just came across on "Tiger Moms".

Why 'Tiger Moms' Pose A Systemic Risk To China:

[www.businessinsider.com]

Any relation to "Cougar Women"?