Broody

[jozeph_001]

I was interested to read this article on the front page of G-news today. It's about practical parenting, and how different cultures have different views of what's OK for kids.

Why Chinese Mothers are betterI was more intested at some of the comments that appeared as bullet text in the article

Comments

[cinnamoncupcake]

As someone broadly brought up in the Chinese style, it's interesting to see the reactions to this article. I would suspect that as Chinese-style parenting is a full time job for the parent, it would be nigh on impossible in a Western society where parents expect to have a life of their own rather than living vicariously through the successes of the next generation. It also makes for a very difficult time for a child in Western society; where that kind of attitude and determination moulds the child's personality, often branding the child as acting superior and unliked. And it's a killer when you finally realise that you're not the best, you'll never be the best and therefore your parents were correct when they told you that you are nothing.

[silent_wrong_me]

I have a lot of thoughts about this article. The main conclusion to get to is ... i don't know.
What is beter for kids? if chinese mothers were really better, surely you would expect the world to be ran by chinese. But it's not. Although these kids may academically achieve, they would in turn lack some of the social skills that may propel them in business and politics.
Also the mother in question seems to have a father with a different approach, this balance may help. A chinese/chinese family may not have this counter, and the child would fail.

But there is something to be said for pushing your child to be the best they can be. A lot of western parents miss this, being too friendly (or busy) to push their children. Calling them Garbage, no that's wrong, atleast to me, but forcing them to surpass themselves at every corner, that seems good.

Thank you