Chua's Strict Views

When is it too much?

Is there a perfect way to raise your child? Numerous American parents questioned the way they should raise their children after a controversial article was published from the Wall Street Journal. Amy Chua who is the author of the book, “The Battle Hymn of the Tiger” and the target person from the article, “Chinese Mothers Are Superior” defends her strict way of raising her two young girls. However, countless of parents insist that children will not be successful in their adulthood and workplace by having high expectations towards their kids thus preventing the child to grow emotionally healthy, having a mindset like the Chinese of helping whenever failure hits and forcing talent that was never there.

The author of “Mother Inferior?” Hanna Rosin, points out that her friends mother: “Pushed her to practice the violin for eight hours a day, and she rarely saw other people her age. What she does hate is music, because it carries for her associations of loneliness and torture. She hasn’t picked up the violin in a decade, and these days, she says, classical music leaves her cold.” (148). As Rosin’s friend grew, her parents contributed to her negative emotions towards a wooden instrument due to the long hours of practice her parents forced her to do on her own. This allowed Rosin’s friend to have nothing but gloomy emotions throughout her childhood years. Likewise in “Amy Chua Is A Whimp” by David Brooks, Negative emotions were developed by Chau’s daughters in a similar way when “Once, her daughters gave her birthday cards of insufficient quality. Chua rejected them and demanded new cards. Once, she threatened to burn all of one of her daughter’s stuffed animals unless she played a piece of music properly.”(151). Chua’s daughter took their time making a birthday card and hitting the perfect notes on their piano and violin but, by Chua rejecting them it created sad emotions for the girls and disappointment within themselves. Children building...