ASA 2
Blog #9
11/15/2015
Reading the article, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” allowed me to see where I stand on the tiger mom stereotype. As a kid who was born and raised in the United States, my Sino-Vietnamese mother never raised me like Amy Chua. For this reason, I never knew much about the stereotype until college. The article talks about how Chinese mothers, who this may also describe “Korean, Indian, Jamaican, & etc” mothers too, have different ways of parenting than Westerners. While Westerners care more about the children’s self-esteem, Chinese parents care more about preparing their children for the future. A study shows that “70% of the Western mothers said either that stressing academic success is not good for children or that parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun”; in contrast, “0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way.” As a Westerner, I feel that stressing high academic achievement is very unhealthy for children. Although Amy Chua prides on her strict parenting skills, I can’t imagine how the child actually views their parent. My mother has always taught me that education was the way to a better life. I worked hard because I wanted to rise out of poverty. If I had a helicopter mother, I would probably do less well in school due to all the stress being put on my shoulder. Overall, I cringed reading the article and would not put my children through the academic stress like how Amy Chua did. I understand that parents want the best for their children, but I don't believe the tiger mom way is the right way to do it.
My question is: how do we balance out being a helicopter mom and being a supportive and loving one too? Is there a right and wrong way of parenting?
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