Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
In Defense of the Guilty, Ambivalent, Preoccupied Western Mom
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703333504576080422577800488.html?mod=WSJASIA_newsreel_lifeStyle
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
In Defense of the Guilty, Ambivalent, Preoccupied Western Mom
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703333504576080422577800488.html?mod=WSJASIA_newsreel_lifeStyle
>> Asian-American girls aged 15 to 24 have above average rates of suicide ...
ReplyDelete??!!!! Where did this come from? I tried browsing online for the suicide stats and so far have not found anything to support this claim.
Ah, found one site about it ... but it should take a close look at what it actually says
ReplyDeleteRead the comments from this site too ...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.quora.com/Parenting/Is-Amy-Chua-right-when-she-explains-Why-Chinese-Mothers-Are-Superior-in-an-op-ed-in-the-Wall-Street-Journal
The WSJ obviously was going for shock effect in their choice of titles.
ReplyDeleteChatted about it with Snowylady last night.
ReplyDeleteOne thing we both noted - whatever the Chinese mother did, the American and European mothers had been doing it for centuries until around the mid 20th century ... and raised the people who built the First World nations.
Strict routines don't usually work for mavericks, but you can't nurture someone to be a maverick ... it's in-born.
Thats another discussion for another day. I'm currently reading "Why The West Rules - for now" by Ian Morris and its pretty interesting. For the greater part of human written history, parents would have read that statement "raised the people who built the First World nations." and thought you were nuts to mean the west but yeah, this "western" way of thinking for raising kids, is really very new, mid 20th century at earliest. They were strict on their kids before that.
ReplyDeleteHad an interesting observation from my dad a few years back. He was reading articles on the west and how kids were being brought up now, college students in no hurry to look for a job, staying on welfare etc. and he said, "they've changed". This wasn't the westerners he remembered when he was in Queensland in the 1960s or in Michigan in the 1970s. According to him, they used to be more like us, strict with their children, industrious, kiasu even, and he is shocked at what's happening today. James Dean was the rebel, not the norm of today's kids. Those were probably the people who built the first world. The kids of today, we'll know in another 20-30 years if what today's parents are teaching, is right.
Interesting.. didnt expect Amy Chua to be so young and charming!
ReplyDeletehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703583404576080032661117462.html
Got to get my hands on her memoir.. after reading some of the comments, am just curious on her book..
Prof. Chua is getting a lot of flack from this. Today's paper carries an article that said 100% of people (about 40+) interviewed on the street whom were parents, all said they don't subscribe to her methods. I wonder how true that is... honestly... I suspect a large part of that may simply be people mouthing what they believe to be politically correct although I do think most people (including myself) think Prof. Chua to be a little too harsh.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, as someone who writes a lot, I think there is another angle most people don't realise happens when things or thoughts are put down on paper. When you actually set down your thoughts on paper and list your methods in anything you do, when you read it back to yourself, you'll usually find that you never realised just how extreme or detailed you really are in doing whatever it was you were writing about doing. So, similarly here, I think there is something to be said about people reacting negatively based on a gut feel about what Prof. Chua wrote but perhaps not fully realising themselves that they probably do the same thing, just unconsciously or un-admitted even to themselves. You usually sound more extreme on paper, than you do in your own mind's biased eye.
hmm..as to my way of managing my boys.., depends on situations.
ReplyDeleteOn culture and moral values, definitely Chinese. When it comes to food, its mostly Western for the boys..nah not so much the burgers or tenderloin or the fried chicken, but more on the healthier herbal variations like rosemary and basil on everything from eggs to pasta to all kinds of meat... Oh me and ET are suckers for Chinese foods, definitely!
But I am shame to admit that they only speak English at home..✖~✖ Ya ya ya, ET's (not mine) fault. Not the school's, definitely. ✖‿✖
Hmm....can't comment much as I am not a parent but I guess my mum is gulity of one or two behaviour as described by Amy Chua....
ReplyDeleteCreating partisan contention sells, but 10 parent pairs will have 10 parenting styles, even if they're from the same background.
ReplyDeletehaha yup. Prof. Chua wants to sell her book and WSJ wants to sell more copies after all.
ReplyDelete