Tiger Mom: Are There Alternatives?
Amy Chua, in her new book, blatantly extols the Tiger Mother approach to parenting – implacably insisting, demanding, and controlling her children’s lives. Rules, expectations, and no sugar-coating the criticism – that’s what really works. It explicitly rebukes the focus on “self-esteem” that, for her, is the regrettable group-think of modern life here in the West.
Frankly, I love the boldness – even despite her deliberate provocations – and I’d be thrilled if her book actually generates a useful conversation about good parenting.
Her big point is that parenting through a chaotic world is a job that requires Mom to be fiercely, unapologetically focused on actively directing her kids, and that Chinese mothers have a leg up: they deploy the backbone and emotional leverage conferred by a 5000-year-old culture – ascendant again. Tiger Mom’s clear duty is to demand that her children navigate excellently in a remorseless world they’re both … Read more