Tiger Moms

By Vanessa (Age 13.5, St. Paul's Convent)

Recently, Amy Chua, Yale professor and author of the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, published an essay on the Wall Street Journal. It caused such an uproar that everyone around the globe is talking about it.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

In her essay, she talked about the 'teaching' methods she used on her two daughters, Louisa and Sophia. She expected perfect grades from them, and never allowed them to go to sleepovers, watch TV, or have boyfriends. They were made to practice violin or the piano for excessive hours too.

To tell you the truth, I don't agree with Amy Chua. How can a kid survive without her social life, Internet, or fun? It's just crazy. The methods she used were extreme and way over the line, and in short, inhumane. I can't picture how it would feel to be forced to do whatever my mother says especially when my social life is at stake.

On the other hand, I do have to give her credit. She was able to train her two daughters to ace practically every test or exam they have. They are also not hooked on drugs, computer games, or other entertainment that may take up most or a lot of their time. This is not what every child can achieve as there are many temptations around us these days, may it be computer games, TV, money, etc. What Amy did well was that she was able to prevent her daughters from being affected by temptations. She has made them strong and independent through her harsh training. However, I don't think that this should cost a happy childhood. Furthermore, it seems to me that she made it their life goal to get straight-A's in everything and just neglect everything else. Though she may have given them extremely good training on the piano and violin, I have a feeling that her daughters don't even know how to do the dishes.

Furthermore, I don't agree that Amy should just force her daughters to do whatever she wants them to do. Forcefully making someone do something is not the best way to get good results. Instead, she can settle for methods that are not so aggressive. She can sit down and discuss with them and try to work out a timetable or plan that the three of them are satisfied with. Amy should also remember that nobody is perfect, least of all her daughters. Although setting up a high standards will help her daughter academically, she should never forget that Louisa and Sophia are just young girls at heart. It is very natural for them to want to socialize and just have fun.

In a nutshell, I really think that Amy should just let her daughters make their decisions for themselves. Let them fail, and encourage them to try again. Keeping them in an ivory cage is not going to help them become strong. Only if they truly experience it for themselves can they understand and learn from it, and that is definitely not something straight-A's on every report card can do.