"Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior"...... excuse me while I puke

[ninwa]

A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I've done it. Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:

• attend a sleepover

• have a playdate

• be in a school play

• complain about not being in a school play

• watch TV or play computer games

• choose their own extracurricular activities

• get any grade less than an A

• not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama

• play any instrument other than the piano or violin

• not play the piano or violin.

Read entire article for maximum puke-inducingness

[chrisjb]

• watch TV or play computer games

lies!

[lexitu]

"Children on their own never want to work"... WTF.

[EvangelionZeta]

"—Amy Chua is a professor at Yale Law School and author of "Day of Empire" and "World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability." This essay is excerpted from "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua, to be published Tuesday by the Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Copyright © 2011 by Amy Chua."

That's the scariest part of the whole article.  Remind me to avoid Yale Law.

[ninwa]

Hah, I didn't see that bit until after I emailed the link to my mother. Like she doesn't hate lawyers enough as it is >_>

[Cianyx]

In terms of child performance, South Korea, I believe ranks the highest in the world. Coincidentally, they are also the largest exporter of Starcraft players worldwide. Hmmmm

[Eriny]

The article provides some (tenuous) justification on the grades/music rules, but it never explains why the kids aren't allowed to have sleepovers or watch TV or be in a play (all of which could have actually benefited them!).

I think the awful part is that the extreme level of this stuff just isn't strictly necessary. Children really can thrive if left largely to their own devices so long as they know they can always go to the parents for help. And getting to Carnegie Hall (as depicted) isn't something you can just do because someone pushed you into it.

I find the story with the little girl struggling with the piece quite dreadful. I know the mother's heart was in the right place and she was clearly quite right to push her, I found it too extreme. The process would have been easier and less traumatic if the girl was allowed bathroom breaks and not constantly threatened. Sometimes it takes a day or two for new skills to really sink in. Even half an hour of playing then 10 minutes off would have reduced the girl's stress and she would have been able to do it within a similar time frame.

[Hellhole]

I think I lol'd the whole way through the article.

[MuggedByReality]

The article provides some (tenuous) justification on the grades/music rules, but it never explains why the kids aren't allowed to have sleepovers or watch TV or be in a play (all of which could have actually benefited them!).

I think the awful part is that the extreme level of this stuff just isn't strictly necessary. Children really can thrive if left largely to their own devices so long as they know they can always go to the parents for help. And getting to Carnegie Hall (as depicted) isn't something you can just do because someone pushed you into it.

I find the story with the little girl struggling with the piece quite dreadful. I know the mother's heart was in the right place and she was clearly quite right to push her, I found it too extreme. The process would have been easier and less traumatic if the girl was allowed bathroom breaks and not constantly threatened. Sometimes it takes a day or two for new skills to really sink in. Even half an hour of playing then 10 minutes off would have reduced the girl's stress and she would have been able to do it within a similar time frame.

 Absolutely. Look at Summerhill:
              http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/

[TrueTears]

In terms of child performance, South Korea, I believe ranks the highest in the world. Coincidentally, they are also the largest exporter of Starcraft players worldwide. Hmmmm

haha true that, while China is the largest exporter of dota players worldwide.

[iffets12345]

What a fucking stuck up bitch LOL.

Sorry, I feel that language is necessary cause that's what I thought instantly when I saw her photo with her kids and then the general tone of the article. She's sooooo proud of how her kids turned out, she's so proud she's a yale law graduate and can have some authority on the situation, but honestly, I'd prefer knowing that the child was given the option of doing piano instead of having it imposed on her. Sure, her kid may say she loves music and whatever, but was she ever really given the chance? She can say she loves music because she was brought up in a household that taught her only that.

[HeyHeyAllan]

If anyone watches Modern Family, here's an interesting article with reference to this woman:

http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2011/01/modern-family-weighs-in-on-the-asian-mother-debate/69478/

[ninwa]

God I love Modern Family.

An excellent response to this stupid woman: http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2011/01/thoughts-from-the-daughter-of-a-chinese-mother/69286/

[david10d]

Lol @ that. She probably just wanted bragging rights over her stuck-up Ivy League tea buddies.

[MuggedByReality]

          Interesting mini-discussion
 
   
           "Children who are coerced by parents end up "introjecting" their values – mechanically adopting them without understanding, out of fear and obedience, making them like hypnotised subjects who feel they have no volition."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/16/amy-chua-strict-chinese-parenting