Tiger Mom

Jiayu Zeng

Section 02

Reading Reflection 9

In response to: “Why I love my strict Chinese mom”

In this article, Sophie Chua-Rubenfeld talked how she thought about her mom’s parenting style, which had been criticized by many parents and readers. She admitted that she had moments that she could not do the things she wanted; however, in the end, she is thankful to have a strict mom because she became an independent person and achieved a lot. Using her words, Sophie felt people did not understand how great her mom was and how much she done for her children; also, she knew many people did not agree with her mom’s parenting method and this method was different from many parents’, but she still thought her mom did great for them. Although this was the child’s perspective, her perspective was created depending upon her parents’ words and perspective.

I could understand Tiger mom was strict to her children because she wanted to help them be successful. However, I did not agree that she limited her children’s choices and opportunities for their lives. Sophie said her mom gave them a lot of freedom, but her mom did not allow them to play musical instruments other than the piano and violin, and to watch TV. I think this kind of parenting style might work for some children, but it should not be normalized and promoted as a standard for parenting to the public.