Obedience for Success?

Hatakeyama, Vicky

ASA2 A02

Response to: Why I Love My Strict Chinese Mom

Reading this article of Amy Chua’s daughter’s response toward her mother’s article that has been criticized by many readers, I was very touched by the fact that her daughters were trying to tell the audience that what their mother had done to them and for them was all out of love and taught them to become independent thinkers.  They became responsible and respectful because of the “tough love” parenting method they were raised in.  The daughter states that her mother taught her to “pursue knowledge for its own sake.”  She learned at the end that it is about knowing that you have “pushed yourself to the limits of your own potential.”  Although people might have believed the harsh treatment that the daughters received such as not being able to have play dates as a child, not being able to eat dinner until they completed an assignment, and anything restricting their pleasure is cruel, the daughter claims that she learned to not give up. 

Question: Although there are results that strict and harsh treatments by Asian parents lead to academic achievement, is there any other way other than this “tough love” parenting method to raise his/her child?