Amy Chua’s Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior was in “The Wall Street Journal” on January 8, 2011. She calls attention to the differences in parenting between cultures and why Chinese children are more successful. Chua is a famous author who written many books such as “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” and her newest book, “The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America.” She has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a Juris doctorate from Harvard. Chua is currently the Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Chua argues that there are three main differences between Chinese mothers and Western mothers. The first is Western mothers care about their children’s self-esteem. She states Western mothers …show more content…
Currently the attention on children is greater than previously, with many parenting books and the new focus on standardized test scores. The value of a good education has gone up with the struggle to get into pristine schools. Parents are focusing of the start of a good education from the age of preschool. The topic is relevant to parents and even teachers. The terms are clearly defined, she doesn’t use unusual words without explaining what they mean through context clues. The opinions of Chua is clearly stated in the numerical order. With using firstly, secondly, and thirdly she numbers her ideas and showed why she believes Chinese parents are better than Western parents. She goes from one idea to the next then explains why she is tough on her children. Her ideas are explicit and stated clearly. The content of the writing has enough examples and details to have the reader adequately understand and yet not be confused by too much detail. The purpose of the writing is to inform the different ways in culture, which way is better and persuade readers that it is not harming their children to push them. Chua clearly has stated the differences providing examples then showing how her way of parenting has given her children success. She then recalls one particular incident when her daughter was having trouble with a piano piece. She forced her to
Like the name of this article suggests, the writer's main purpose is to persuade the audience to make them believe that Chinese mothers are indeed superior. To support her argument she uses different methods to appeal to her audience's favor: she uses statistics of researches about Chinese mothers and Western mothers opinions, opinions that are mostly about how parents should or should not do when they are raising their children. She also uses passages of her life as a Chinese mother to support her argument. Also, she points out a few characteristics of western parents that are completely opposite to how a Chinese mother raises their children, which made her argument stronger. Nevertheless, there were some fallacies in her logic. One of her main fallacies is what we call "Hasty Generalization".
New Yorker Elizabeth Kalbert focuses on a story on America’s Top Parent. Amy Chua a writer on “The Roar of the Tiger mom,” Kalbert tells how there are two kinds of mothers. Amy Chua for instance is a Chinese woman who keeps her children from the outside world Chua, and her daughters of Chinese immigrants. Her daughters and herself practice their work every day and is a law school professor, who also includes only the best for her children. Although western mothers think they are being strict when their children were to practice their work.
Amy Chua utilizes evidence to verify that Western parenting practice is wrong and not as effective as Chinese parenting practice. In her article, Chua comments, “Chinese parents can do things that would seem unimaginable-even legally actionable-to Westerners, “Hey fatty-lose some weight.” By contrast, Western parents have to tiptoe around the issue” (Chua 54). She also gives her observation as evidence to convince Westerners treat their kid wrongly. She adds her observation in her article “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” “I also once heard a Western father toast his adult daughter by calling her “beautiful and incredibly competent.” She later told me that made her feel like garbage” (Chua 54). Brooks, in opposite, does not fight against to prove Chinese parenting techniques are completely wrong. However, he just want to give evidence so that Chua and Chinese, in common, understand Western parenting practices are good in some ways. In Brooks’ article, he clears, “So I’m not against the way Chua pushes her daughters” (Brooks 59). Furthermore, David Brooks writes in his article “I wish she recognized that in some important ways the school cafeteria is more intellectually demanding than the library” (Brooks
Chinese parenting is competent at times but there are other times where it is more suitable to follow other forms of parenting such as the Western style.These findings have important consequences for the broader domain of parent-child relationships. Whether it is Chinese parenting or Western parenting the relationship between family members is crucial. According to Amy Chua, Chinese parenting is more effective in helping the child attain a better future through the parents’ interests, while Western parenting style reflects mainly the interests of the child.
As Amy Chua (2011) points out, there are three differences in the mindsets of Chinese and Westerners when it comes to parenting. The author starts the article with several stories to demonstrate these glaring differences: Chinese parents believe their kids are "the best;" Chinese parents force their children to practice a subject until they master and enjoy it; and Chinese parents call their offsprings "garbage" and "fat" to make them improve. However, according to Chua, the Chinese parenting method, strange to Westerners, has created successful sons and daughters.
There are big differences in how Chinese mothers act towards their children compared to Western mothers including the expression of feelings and approval, the worth of their children, and what is best for them. Amy Chua (2011) incorporates her own personal experiences of being a Chinese mother within her article and compares that to what she witnesses in America.
Tejada, E. (2010). The Promise of Preschool: From Head Start to Universal Pre-kindergarten. Education Review (10945296), 1-6.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said:“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” Mr. Roosevelt was indicating that education is key to ensuring a positive future for our country. Years have passed since his presidency, and many can argue that America’s educational system has improved, but that still remains to be seen. While it is true that education has gotten more focus in recent years, as highlighted by the “No Child Left Behind Act,” it does not mean that the system is fully developed enough to aid all of America’s children. Now, the average American is just that: average. Children generally receive B’s and C’s, average grades, in school if they are lucky enough to be in a good school system. Literacy rates are lower than they seem, and not enough people are properly motivated to do well in school. Forms of entertainment and parental influence, which also play a large role in the development of children into successful, productive adults, are not where they should be with respects to education. Much more needs to be done to improve the educational system of the entire country. Preschool should be made mandatory to help individuals reach their full potential and achieve what only a minority of today’s society is currently capable of.
Chinese-Americans authors Amy Tan and Gish Jen have both grappled with the idea of mixed identity in America. For them, a generational problem develops over time, and cultural displacement occurs as family lines expand. While this is not the problem in and of itself, indeed, it is natural for current culture to gain foothold over distant culture, it serves as the backdrop for the disorientation that occurs between generations. In their novels, Tan and Jen pinpoint the cause of this unbalance in the active dismissal of Chinese mothers by their Chinese-American children.
Early childhood education, although constantly evolving, was actually established and practiced as early on as the times of Ancient Greece and Rome. The foundation that early childhood education is based upon is to instill in children the skills needed to succeed later on in life, while making sure young children enjoy their time in schooling. Throughout chapter 3 in the textbook Who Am I in the Lives of Children, the reader is capable of evaluating just how greatly the methods for teaching today’s youth have evolved and changed for the better.
Mothers such as Chua are convinced that they know what’s best for their child in almost every aspect of their life. Between school and activities out of school, decisions are usually made up by the mother and not by the child in the Chinese parenting method. Western parents would much rather hold back on making every decision, instead teaching the child to make their own decisions and to weigh out the consequences. Again in Chinese parenting, mothers also believe that it is better to be harsh on the child rather than baby them throughout development. Western mothers on the other hand will take a different path and will always keep the feelings of the child in mind when conducting punishment. Both of the methods are correct in some aspects, but sometimes it takes a little more than just a compromise between the two in order to
There is a great controversy over the fact of letting parents teach their children or if education should be left to the professionals so students can get a formal education. Although there are many benefits to formal education it should be the parent’s foremost responsibility to monitor and participate in their child’s education. Parents teach their children throughout everyday life. When kids are at young ages their parents teach them how to walk and talk. When a child is born it cannot walk, it cannot talk, and so parents have to teach them.
“Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” is an excerpt from Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua, a Yale Law professor. In this excerpt the author explains why Chinese children tend to be more successful in life and expresses her dislike towards Western parenting. The first idea Chua explains is a list of activities her daughters are allowed to do and not do in order to focus solely on academic progress. Second, the author demonstrates the contrast in mindset between Chinese mothers and Western mothers by explaining how Chinese mothers feel differently than Western mothers in regards to academic success and learning. Furthermore, she describes how Chinese mothers can demand things from their children. Finally, they can also say
Parents are their child’s first teacher. The elementary age is the most crucial time for
Early education includes all children from birth to age eight. Opting to provide excellent early education comes with many opportunity costs. Opportunity costs are losing potential gains when choosing one option versus the other. Anything other than giving children excellent early education comes with an opportunity cost that does not look forward to maximizing the future of next generations. It is important to include education early on in a child’s life to help secure the positive effects this will have on their development into adulthood. Though the opportunity cost of poor early education is great, the external benefits are greater with positive results. These benefits lead to a lasting success of academic and employment success