[nabs-l] [nfb-talk] Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

[Kirt Manwaring]

Joe,
  I admit to being very, very intrigued.  Especially because I always
thought my parents were handing out cruel and unusual punishment for
grounding me when I didn't turn in an assignment, or making me
practice piano for a half hour a day.  (I won on both those fronts, by
the way, but I know I'd probably be a lot more academicly motivated
and musicly talented right now if I hadn't)  That said...I take this
with a rather large grain of salt.  But I don't think your purpose
here has anything to do with quibbling over ethnic stereotypes...so
I'll digress on that front.
  I think there's quite a bit of truth to the idea that Americanized
parents don't push their children as hard as they were pushed.  I got
plenty of praise for a B in college-level algebra...and I suppose I
could've gotten an A if I devoted all my free time to the class.  But
instead I went for our school Mock Trial team, and got plenty of
experience that way, so it all worked out.  But...I'm kinda wandering,
so I'll get to the main problem we face as blind folks.  Where most
children aren't expected to achieve perfection in school, we're
expected to achieve even less...generally speaking.  And...over time,
we can come to expect less out of ourselves.  Not to say my parents
didn't push me...they did.  And...no doubt, in their minds, they were
pushing me as hard as they thought I could go.  But now I know I
could've done better...my 3.6 in high school could've easily been a
3.8 or 3.9, had I been pressured a little more I have no doubt my ACT
score could've been in the low thirties instead of my still
respectable 29.  So...yes, as blind people I think it's probably a
good idea to set our own personal expectations higher (even just a
little bit higher) than the expectations of our parents.  I'm of
course only speaking generally, maybe some of our parents want us to
get 4.0 grades and have no life outside the classroom...and if you
don't want that I think you're perfectly fine with a 3.8 or so.  But,
as a general rule, people expect less out of us and I feel like it
becomes a real problem when we start to expect that for ourselves.
  I'm sorry for the digression, it probably wasn't really all that
substantive...but there you have it.  I'm looking forward to reading
everyone's opinions...I expect my inbox to be full of them.  And I
think it's appropriate, especially on this holiday, to remind
ourselves that we can transcend the barriers we think are unbreakable,
we can eclipse the hopes others have for us...and we can make
ourselves meet our own level of excellence.  It just takes a hell of a
lot of work, grit, and hours and hours of determined, focused action.
  Have a great holiday,
Kirt

On 1/17/11, Brian Miller <brian-r-miller at uiowa.edu> wrote:
> Hi Joe,
> An interesting read, but  like most articles that go viral on the internet,
> this one is 1 part true and 99 parts junk.  I think this is mostly
> conservative palaver disguised as cross-cultural story time.  This is just a
> warmed over version of the old argument about how if we were only tougher on
> our children we wouldn't have this generation of feckless naire-do-well
> children on our hands.  The old tough love solves all problem notion feels
> good because it is simple and taps into our anxiety centers by trying to
> show us how other cultures do it right while we're falling apart because of
> our adoption of namby-pamby wimpy liberal parenting styles.
>
> The baby-boomer generation adopted a more "self-esteem" oriented approach to
> parenting because most of that generation agreed that the hard-assed
> brass-knuckles approach that they experienced was a rather miserable affair,
> and resulted in kids with as least as many hang-ups as our current
> generation enjoys, diagnosed or otherwise.
>
> I hardly think that screaming at our children that they are garbage if they
> get anything less than an A is the anecdote to our current state of
> ambivalence about how to parent.
>
> And is it even statistically possible for every child to get all A's in
> school?  Isn't that where we are now with grade inflation?
>
> I do agree, however, that we've lost the appreciation for the benefits of
> practice, even when it isn't fun, because learning to do something well
> results in fun in the guise of doing something well.  Who was it that said,
> "The more I practice, the luckier I get?"  Whoever it was, they were right.
> The notion of innate talent is a fraud; people who are superb at what they
> do are superb because they dedicate countless hours of practice and focused
> attention to that task they most wish to perfect.
>
> I think I see where you are going with this with respect to blindness,
> however, and I appreciate the dialog that this article will most likely
> engender.
>
> Best,
>
> Brian Miller
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Joe Orozco
> Sent: Monday, January 17, 2011 1:21 PM
> To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
> Cc: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
> Subject: [nfb-talk] Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior
>
> The article below recently went viral.  If you haven't read it, I'd like you
> to read it carefully and than share your thoughts.  You may not see the
> direct link between it and a discussion of blindness right away, but one
> thing that occurred to me is that if my parents had employed even half of
> the techniques traditional Chinese parents are exercising, I might be even
> more successful than even I can imagine.  Anyway, I'll come back with
> commentary later, but as we go about searching for the root of what it is
> that keeps the unemployment rate among the blind so high, perhaps parenting
> is one good place to start, since most if not all of us could agree that our
> own family is sometimes our greatest obstacle to independence.  But, enough
> of me.  Here's the article:
>
> Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior
>
> By AMY CHUA
>
> A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically
> successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math
> whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether
> they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I've done it. Here are
> some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:
>
> Erin Patrice O'Brien for The Wall Street Journal Amy Chua with her
> daughters, Louisa and Sophia, at their home in New Haven, Conn.
>
>
>
> . attend a sleepover
>
> . have a playdate
>
> . be in a school play
>
> . complain about not being in a school play
>
> . watch TV or play computer games
>
> . choose their own extracurricular activities
>
> . get any grade less than an A
>
> . not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama
>
> . play any instrument other than the piano or violin
>
> . not play the piano or violin.
>
> I'm using the term "Chinese mother" loosely. I know some Korean, Indian,
> Jamaican, Irish and Ghanaian parents who qualify too. Conversely, I know
> some mothers of Chinese heritage, almost always born in the West, who are
> not Chinese mothers, by choice or otherwise. I'm also using the term
> "Western parents" loosely. Western parents come in all varieties.
>
> Ideas Market
> The Tiger Mother Responds to Readers
>
> Ms. Chua answers questions from Journal readers who wrote in to the Ideas
> Market blog.
>
> All the same, even when Western parents think they're being strict, they
> usually don't come close to being Chinese mothers. For example, my Western
> friends who consider themselves strict make their children practice their
> instruments 30 minutes every day. An hour at most. For a Chinese mother, the
> first hour is the easy part. It's hours two and three that get tough.
>
>
> When it comes to parenting, the Chinese seem to produce children who display
> academic excellence, musical mastery and professional success - or so the
> stereotype goes. WSJ's Christina Tsuei speaks to two moms raised by Chinese
> immigrants who share what it was like growing up and how they hope to raise
> their children.
>
> More Parenting Videos
> Teaching Math to Spark Creative Thinking
>
> Can Bilingualism Make Preschoolers Smarter?
>
> Despite our squeamishness about cultural stereotypes, there are tons of
> studies out there showing marked and quantifiable differences between
> Chinese and Westerners when it comes to parenting. In one study of 50
> Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the
> Western mothers said either that "stressing academic success is not good for
> children" or that "parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun." By
> contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the
> vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children
> can be "the best" students, that "academic achievement reflects successful
> parenting," and that if children did not excel at school then there was "a
> problem" and parents "were not doing their job." Other studies indicate that
> compared to Western parents, Chinese parents spend approximately 10 times as
> long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By
> contrast, Western kids are more likely to participate in sports teams.
>
> What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at
> it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own
> never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their
> preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents
> because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning,
> which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, the
> Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice,
> practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in
> America. Once a child starts to excel at something-whether it's math, piano,
> pitching or ballet-he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This
> builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun. This in turn
> makes it easier for the parent to get the child to work even more.
>
> Chinese parents can get away with things that Western parents can't. Once
> when I was young-maybe more than once-when I was extremely disrespectful to
> my mother, my father angrily called me "garbage" in our native Hokkien
> dialect. It worked really well. I felt terrible and deeply ashamed of what I
> had done. But it didn't damage my self-esteem or anything like that. I knew
> exactly how highly he thought of me. I didn't actually think I was worthless
> or feel like a piece of garbage.
>
> As an adult, I once did the same thing to Sophia, calling her garbage in
> English when she acted extremely disrespectfully toward me. When I mentioned
> that I had done this at a dinner party, I was immediately ostracized. One
> guest named Marcy got so upset she broke down in tears and had to leave
> early. My friend Susan, the host, tried to rehabilitate me with the
> remaining guests.
>
> The fact is that Chinese parents can do things that would seem
> unimaginable-even legally actionable-to Westerners. Chinese mothers can say
> to their daughters, "Hey fatty-lose some weight." By contrast, Western
> parents have to tiptoe around the issue, talking in terms of "health" and
> never ever mentioning the f-word, and their kids still end up in therapy for
> eating disorders and negative self-image. (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.)
>
> Chinese parents can order their kids to get straight As. Western parents can
> only ask their kids to try their best. Chinese parents can say, "You're
> lazy. All your classmates are getting ahead of you." By contrast, Western
> parents have to struggle with their own conflicted feelings about
> achievement, and try to persuade themselves that they're not disappointed
> about how their kids turned out.
>
> I've thought long and hard about how Chinese parents can get away with what
> they do. I think there are three big differences between the Chinese and
> Western parental mind-sets.
>
> First, I've noticed that Western parents are extremely anxious about their
> children's self-esteem. They worry about how their children will feel if
> they fail at something, and they constantly try to reassure their children
> about how good they are notwithstanding a mediocre performance on a test or
> at a recital. In other words, Western parents are concerned about their
> children's psyches. Chinese parents aren't. They assume strength, not
> fragility, and as a result they behave very differently.
>
> For example, if a child comes home with an A-minus on a test, a Western
> parent will most likely praise the child. The Chinese mother will gasp in
> horror and ask what went wrong. If the child comes home with a B on the
> test, some Western parents will still praise the child. Other Western
> parents will sit their child down and express disapproval, but they will be
> careful not to make their child feel inadequate or insecure, and they will
> not call their child "stupid," "worthless" or "a disgrace." Privately, the
> Western parents may worry that their child does not test well or have
> aptitude in the subject or that there is something wrong with the curriculum
> and possibly the whole school. If the child's grades do not improve, they
> may eventually schedule a meeting with the school principal to challenge the
> way the subject is being taught or to call into question the teacher's
> credentials.
>
> If a Chinese child gets a B-which would never happen-there would first be a
> screaming, hair-tearing explosion. The devastated Chinese mother would then
> get dozens, maybe hundreds of practice tests and work through them with her
> child for as long as it takes to get the grade up to an A.
>
> Chinese parents demand perfect grades because they believe that their child
> can get them. If their child doesn't get them, the Chinese parent assumes
> it's because the child didn't work hard enough. That's why the solution to
> substandard performance is always to excoriate, punish and shame the child.
> The Chinese parent believes that their child will be strong enough to take
> the shaming and to improve from it. (And when Chinese kids do excel, there
> is plenty of ego-inflating parental praise lavished in the privacy of the
> home.)
>
> Second, Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything. The
> reason for this is a little unclear, but it's probably a combination of
> Confucian filial piety and the fact that the parents have sacrificed and
> done so much for their children. (And it's true that Chinese mothers get in
> the trenches, putting in long grueling hours personally tutoring, training,
> interrogating and spying on their kids.) Anyway, the understanding is that
> Chinese children must spend their lives repaying their parents by obeying
> them and making them proud.
>
> By contrast, I don't think most Westerners have the same view of children
> being permanently indebted to their parents. My husband, Jed, actually has
> the opposite view. "Children don't choose their parents," he once said to
> me. "They don't even choose to be born. It's parents who foist life on their
> kids, so it's the parents' responsibility to provide for them. Kids don't
> owe their parents anything. Their duty will be to their own kids." This
> strikes me as a terrible deal for the Western parent.
>
> Third, Chinese parents believe that they know what is best for their
> children and therefore override all of their children's own desires and
> preferences. That's why Chinese daughters can't have boyfriends in high
> school and why Chinese kids can't go to sleepaway camp. It's also why no
> Chinese kid would ever dare say to their mother, "I got a part in the school
> play! I'm Villager Number Six. I'll have to stay after school for rehearsal
> every day from 3:00 to 7:00, and I'll also need a ride on weekends." God
> help any Chinese kid who tried that one.
>
> Don't get me wrong: It's not that Chinese parents don't care about their
> children. Just the opposite. They would give up anything for their children.
> It's just an entirely different parenting model.
>
> In China, Not All Practice Tough Love
> The Juggle: Are U.S. Parents Too Soft?
> Here's a story in favor of coercion, Chinese-style. Lulu was about 7, still
> playing two instruments, and working on a piano piece called "The Little
> White Donkey" by the French composer Jacques Ibert. The piece is really
> cute-you can just imagine a little donkey ambling along a country road with
> its master-but it's also incredibly difficult for young players because the
> two hands have to keep schizophrenically different rhythms.
>
> Lulu couldn't do it. We worked on it nonstop for a week, drilling each of
> her hands separately, over and over. But whenever we tried putting the hands
> together, one always morphed into the other, and everything fell apart.
> Finally, the day before her lesson, Lulu announced in exasperation that she
> was giving up and stomped off.
>
> "Get back to the piano now," I ordered.
>
> "You can't make me."
>
> "Oh yes, I can."
>
> Back at the piano, Lulu made me pay. She punched, thrashed and kicked. She
> grabbed the music score and tore it to shreds. I taped the score back
> together and encased it in a plastic shield so that it could never be
> destroyed again. Then I hauled Lulu's dollhouse to the car and told her I'd
> donate it to the Salvation Army piece by piece if she didn't have "The
> Little White Donkey" perfect by the next day. When Lulu said, "I thought you
> were going to the Salvation Army, why are you still here?" I threatened her
> with no lunch, no dinner, no Christmas or Hanukkah presents, no birthday
> parties for two, three, four years. When she still kept playing it wrong, I
> told her she was purposely working herself into a frenzy because she was
> secretly afraid she couldn't do it. I told her to stop being lazy, cowardly,
> self-indulgent and pathetic.
>
> Jed took me aside. He told me to stop insulting Lulu-which I wasn't even
> doing, I was just motivating her-and that he didn't think threatening Lulu
> was helpful. Also, he said, maybe Lulu really just couldn't do the
> technique-perhaps she didn't have the coordination yet-had I considered that
> possibility?
>
> "You just don't believe in her," I accused.
>
> "That's ridiculous," Jed said scornfully. "Of course I do."
>
> "Sophia could play the piece when she was this age."
>
> "But Lulu and Sophia are different people," Jed pointed out.
>
> "Oh no, not this," I said, rolling my eyes. "Everyone is special in their
> special own way," I mimicked sarcastically. "Even losers are special in
> their own special way. Well don't worry, you don't have to lift a finger.
> I'm willing to put in as long as it takes, and I'm happy to be the one
> hated. And you can be the one they adore because you make them pancakes and
> take them to Yankees games."
>
> I rolled up my sleeves and went back to Lulu. I used every weapon and tactic
> I could think of. We worked right through dinner into the night, and I
> wouldn't let Lulu get up, not for water, not even to go to the bathroom. The
> house became a war zone, and I lost my voice yelling, but still there seemed
> to be only negative progress, and even I began to have doubts.
>
> Then, out of the blue, Lulu did it. Her hands suddenly came together-her
> right and left hands each doing their own imperturbable thing-just like
> that.
>
> Lulu realized it the same time I did. I held my breath. She tried it
> tentatively again. Then she played it more confidently and faster, and still
> the rhythm held. A moment later, she was beaming.
>
> "Mommy, look-it's easy!" After that, she wanted to play the piece over and
> over and wouldn't leave the piano. That night, she came to sleep in my bed,
> and we snuggled and hugged, cracking each other up. When she performed "The
> Little White Donkey" at a recital a few weeks later, parents came up to me
> and said, "What a perfect piece for Lulu-it's so spunky and so her."
>
> Even Jed gave me credit for that one. Western parents worry a lot about
> their children's self-esteem. But as a parent, one of the worst things you
> can do for your child's self-esteem is to let them give up. On the flip
> side, there's nothing better for building confidence than learning you can
> do something you thought you couldn't.
>
> There are all these new books out there portraying Asian mothers as
> scheming, callous, overdriven people indifferent to their kids' true
> interests. For their part, many Chinese secretly believe that they care more
> about their children and are willing to sacrifice much more for them than
> Westerners, who seem perfectly content to let their children turn out badly.
> I think it's a misunderstanding on both sides. All decent parents want to do
> what's best for their children. The Chinese just have a totally different
> idea of how to do that.
>
> Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging
> them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing
> positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese
> believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for
> the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with
> skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.
>
> -Amy Chua is a professor at Yale Law School and author of "Day of Empire"
> and "World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred
> and Global Instability." This essay is excerpted from "Battle Hymn of the
> Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua, to be published Tuesday by the Penguin Press, a
> member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Copyright C 2011 by Amy Chua.
>
>
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