Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School, is getting a lot of press about her recently-released book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and her excerpt from that book that was published in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week. In her book she claims that children raised in a Chinese fashion are superior to their Western-raised counterparts, and sets out her reasons why she believes this is so.
Well, is it true? You be the judge. I've linked to Ms. Chua's article above, and writing on the other side of the fence so far are Katie Granju and Shannon Love. What do you think? What kind of parenting makes the most sense, produces the most successful children, and provides the most benefits for society at large? I have a few things to say myself on the subject, but I want to hear from my six lovely readers first. So jump in and let me know what's important. I'm waiting ...
HT: Instapundit. Where so many good things come from.
UPDATE: We were talking at dinner tonight about Amy Chua's parenting hypotheses, and One wanted the scoop. We explained to him the basics of how she raised her daughters, and he instantly shot back with the essence of Shannon Love's argument: children raised that way lack the ability to work as a team, could not truly understand other people and their motivations, and therefore were at a disadvantage functioning in society, because they had been deprived of learning how to make friends and work alongside them. Score one point for The Grass Widow Style of Parenting - whatever that is (if someone can explain it to me please raise your hand).
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3 comments:
You mean I am not one of hundreds of readers? I have not read the excerpt, but as a Chinese person, I am certainly in circles of Asian people commenting on her position and most are anti. And I am guessing her definition of success is probably different from mine.
"my six lovely readers first" lol!
I've been avoiding this one as it has been drifting through my twitter feed for days. Okay. I will look at it for you. Later.
Stopped by to give this:
http://gobbelcounseling.wordpress.com/
Looks like they are in Fredericksburg. Barbara
Okay so I read the N Y T article. The 1st sentence: "A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids." Emphasis mine.
And so she defines it. Were I to believe in "one best" descriptive of parenting this well-written confession/purge/bound-to-pay-well-book might bother me.
Were I to believe it possible to guide others into the one best parenting mode, I might be tempted by this book - with emphasis shifted to "successful". The outcome is subjective. The population is varied, diverse, heterogeneous. But many like to talk about these things, and so they have.
Applauding your GW 'style' based solely on knowledge of your religious beliefs - and that you have family meals. Either alone have been shown to make a difference in the 'success' of a child's life.
Each to his own. Natural consequences. Meh.
Barbara
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