Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Raising good, successful children is hard work. It demands time, attention and determination. But what kind of parenting makes for the best possible upbringing? Is it wise to let children make their own decisions or is it best give them a very strict upbringing, prohibiting them from watching TV and attend sleepovers in order to keep distractions at bay and make room for extra schoolwork and piano lessons? Amy Chua, who wrote the article "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior", which was published on January 8th, 2011, in the Wall Street Journal, is convinced that controlling and monitoring your children's every move is the right thing to do in order to raise good, independent and successful human beings.

Amy Chua is subjective throughout the entire article. She is Chinese, so naturally a strict Chinese upbringing would be ideal for any child. But even though the text is low on objectivity, she still seems trustworthy. She is a professor at Yale Law School after all.

And she does refer to a few studies that compare Western parenting and Chinese parenting. A study shows that Chinese mothers spend 10 times longer on academic activities with their children every day than Western parents do. Amy Chua does however not speculate on how it affects the children that they're not allowed to hang out with their friends and learn to behave like "normal" children. She's dead set on their schoolwork being first priority regardless of what it takes. She also thinks that Chinese mothers have some kind of special right to belittle and force their children, in order to make them strive for excellence: "Chinese mothers can say to their daughters,"Hey fatty - lose some weight"". Only very few Western parents in their right mind would ever say that, flat out, to one of their children, nor would they force the child to practice the piano for more than 2-3 hours a day for weeks without end. But Amy Chua believes that "Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence", which is correct, but forcing it onto one's children and overriding all of their children's own desires and preferences might seem a little extreme in the eyes of most Westerners and it doesn't guarantee you a happy child.

It must be difficult for Western parents to understand a Chinese upbringing because "Western parents are concerned about their children's psyches. Chinese parents aren't", as Amy Chua puts it. She also seems almost appalled that Western parents are more concerned about how their child feels about getting a bad grade than why they got it.

In the incident with her daughter and the piano, she's also convinced that it was a good thing she

was so stern with her daughter, regardless of how loud her daughter

...