Tiger Mom's Daughter Just Got Into Harvard (Is this vindication of her parenting methods?)

Business Insider ^ | 04/01/2011 | Glynnis Macnicol

[SeekAndFind]

Amy Chua, the Yale law professor who enraged parents and morning show viewers everywhere when she published her parenting book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, must be feeling somewhat vindicated today.

Chua's eldest daughter was just accepted to Harvard. Chua, better known as Tiger Mom, made headlines earlier this year for preaching the benefits of ultra strict parenting practices -- rooted in her own Chinese upbringing.

The WSJ article that accompanied the release of her book was called "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior" and preached a childhood free of video games, playdates, and TV and listed all the ways in which Western parents are failures.

Some readers went so far as to call her abusive.

Perhaps now she will respond by mailing out copies of her daughter's Harvard acceptance letter.

[SeekAndFind]

Tiger Mom, Amy Chua and Family

[BobL]

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

A victory for TRADITIONAL parenting.

Let the liberals show their ANGER!

[Huskrrrr]

I have an Asian wife and two beautiful, WELL-BEHAVED, loving step-daughters. The kids were held to strict curfews and not given everything there hearts desired growing up. Good for you Tiger Mom.

[SeekAndFind]

This was the FR thread that started the entire discussion :

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2654619/posts

[Jonty30]

I think it vindicates her that requiring your to develop the habit of doing your best in whatever activitied you are doing.

But don’t I think that it vindicates her that your kids should have every moment of fun sucked out of their lives and totally dedicated to being productive.

[I still care]

Good. Now she’ll be able to pay for all the therapy she’ll probably need.

I am a traditional parent. But what this woman described was scary.

I mean, they weren’t allowed to be in the school play. The mother thought there was nothing wrong with calling her daughter names like fatty and garbage. She would keep her playing for hours at a piano, and threaten to destroy her toys if she didn’t.

That is not healthy. Granted, we go way too far the other way in America, but I just don’t think that is the way to raise a child. I’d rather my daughter didn’t get into Harvard than call her names.

[trapped_in_LA]

Great, her daughter will now be indoctrinated into the whole liberal entitlement mindset at one of the most liberal schools in the nation in one of the most liberal states in the nation. Not sure this will end well but at least she’ll have ~$200,000 in school debt to remind her of what it means to work hard and succeed.

[linn37]

Her methods a bit to extreme. I prefer to enjoy my kids not harass them 24/7 and they are turning out just fine.

[evilC]

It certainly vindicates the idea of choosing two high IQ, high achieving, and well-connected parents.

[Kirkwood]

Considering the many thousands who've passed through Harvard without growing up in an extremely repressive home, I would say the daughter getting into the school is simply a statistical anomaly and has absolutely nothing to do with her wacko mother.

[gusty]

My daughters attend a public HS that is around 25% - 30% Korean. The Korean kids are raised in a similar way, but not as extreme as what is described by the author. They participate in school plays, sports, and other extracurricular activities. They socialize with their friends like the other kids. They dominate the golf and tennis teams, and some play football. They work hard and get good grades in school. In a nutshell, in my experience Tiger Mom is more extreme than the many Asian parents that I know. Believe me, these other Asian parents get the same results.

[yup2394871293]

Getting an article about you in a nationally-circulated newspaper probably helps a bit, too.

[I still care]

It seems to me the whole Chinese model.

Remember the Olympics? Finding the kids were taken from their parents at age 3 and only allowed to see them once a year. Looking at some of their bodies and thinking they were being starved in order to get a better dive. And wondering about their ages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YC5dkBVaxI&feature=related

[Charlespg]

Good. Now she’ll be able to pay for all the therapy she’ll probably need. I am a traditional parent. But what this woman described was scary.

Ditto I am single with no kids of my own,But what that woman did was abuse

The mother thought there was nothing wrong with calling her daughter names like fatty and garbage. She would keep her playing for hours at a piano, and threaten to destroy her toys if she didn’t.

Thats one of the few circumstances where I would support CPS taking the kids

[CaptainK]

Can’t wait to see what happens to the daughter when she gets her first taste of dorm feedom

[CaptainK]

Can’t wait to see what happens to the daughter when she gets her first taste of dorm freedom

[BobL]

Ping! It looks like the success-haters are out in force on this one.

[workerbee]

I have an Asian wife and two beautiful, WELL-BEHAVED, loving step-daughters. The kids were held to strict curfews and not given everything there hearts desired growing up. Good for you Tiger Mom.

I'm an American wife and have three beautiful, WELL-BEHAVED loving daughters. The kids are held to strict standards and not given everything their hearts desire as they grow up. Good for me, American mom.

We're not all sitcom dingbats.

[I still care]

There’s nothing wrong with success. But there are ways to achieve it that don’t include calling your kid names.

Isn’t that what the whole western model of freedom is about? Setting people free to achieve on their own, rather than coercing them through powerful authority?

[Huskrrrr]

Fair enough. Didn’t mean stereotype. :0)