If you want to be challenged about your parenting style and how you raise your children, then check out an article in the Jan. 8/9 Wall Street Journal: “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”. The article was written by Yale University law school professor Amy Chua and is her take on why so many Chinese and other immigrant parents seem able to raise academically advanced children.
Some things she never allowed her daughters to do:
- Attend a sleepover or playdate
- Watch TV or play computer games
- Get any grade less than an A
- Play any instrument other than the piano or violin
- Not play the piano or violin
Chua notes, “What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you’re good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist”.
While Chua’s admitted behavior toward her daughters is a little scary (Chua threatened to take her 7 year old daughter’s doll house to the Salvation Army and to withhold food for the rest of the day for refusing to continue practicing the piano), but she claims her girls have good self-images because once they master things, they become happy.
The WSJ essay is excerpted from her book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” and was published 1/11/11. Chua answered questions Thursday 1/13/11 on the WSJ blog: blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market.
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