HE:EDtweet : Chinese mothers. Not “Are they superior?” but, "Why...

Amy Chua’s essay asks “Can a regimen of no playdates, no TV, no computer games and hours of music practice create happy kids? And what happens when they fight back?”

But, let’s take a step back to the title “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”, not “Are they superior?” but, why.

Now, if you’re not Chinese and you’re a mother, please note that Chua gives her respects to Korean, Indian, Jamaican, Irish and Ghanaian parents who “qualify too”. She also points out that she uses the terms “Chinese mother” and “Western parents” loosely. So, with that being said lets get to the point of this post.

Not only does Chua compare Western American mothers to immigrant Chinese mothers statistically in her essay, she also gives examples of her own personal application of the “motivation” many Chinese mothers utilize to make their children the “stereotypically successful kids” we have heard of/discussed.

Before moving on let’s define two things…

What statistics does Chua cite on perception?

Excerpt - ‘ In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 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." By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be "the best" students, that "academic achievement reflects successful parenting," and that if children did not excel at school then there was "a problem" and parents "were not doing their job." ‘

What does “motivation” mean?

After working on a piece of music (for piano) for a week Chua’s daughter was not performing the piece successfully. After yelling at the child, the child throwing a tantrum, threatening the child with the withholding of food and holiday gifts, the child still could not play the piece well. Even after talking with her husband about the way her daughter was being insulted Chua stated that she was just “motivating” her daughter. She also then called the child “lazy, cowardly, self-indulgent and pathetic”.

Now, it should be mentioned that Chua’s daughter eventually plays the piece her mother wanted her to play. But, at what cost?

Are western parents not doing the best job?

Are Chinese mothers that insult/motivate their children superior?

How do the children that grow up in western homes and are academically successful without being insulted factor in?

If parents of Blacks and Hispanics/Latinos insulted their children more would the gaps between their children's math and reading scores and those of Whites and Asians be lessened?

What do you think?