food for thought

[azazella]

"Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior
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?"http://online.wsj.com/article/

Comments

[aite]

You are the 5th person in my lenta citing it. The verdict, I think, is that it's a satire.

[azazella]

I am afraid it is not a satire though - see too many people jump on that wagon - "russian" style teaching is much more resonant to the "chinese" than american system of values. However there's a huge difference of opinions there as well judging from facebook discussions. Much I think has to do with identifying what the "goals" are - achievement, relationship, happiness, self-esteem etc.
I personally believe that any approach comes with consequences. More extreme approaches with more extreme consequences. At my work, counseling college kids, I see a lot of kids (overachievers, not necessarily chinese) who have been pushed, and trained, and obedient, overseen, supervised, directed and told what the right thing to do is, who fall apart when parental superego is literally removed out of the picture. They just can't function - they have not developed individuality, separateness, critical thinking, discipline, motivation above all - it was always provided for them and pushed down their throats.

[aite]

Check this out: http://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?srid=nN

Yes, I can imagine, and I find it very odd that parents can be so short-sighted. It shouldn't be so hard to understand that kids need to be taught to make their own sound judgments, the earlier the better.