Why chinese mothers are superior Essay Example for Free

Why chinese mothers are superior Essay How do you raise your child in the best way? Is it the Western or Chinese methods to prefer? That is the big question in this article. Amy Chua takes her starting point in her own life, where she raises her two daughters, Sophia and Louisa. Their upbringing is influenced by the Chinese methods. Amy Chua never allowed them to attend a sleepover or get any grade less than an A for instance. 1 The sender of this article is the 50-year old Chinese woman, Amy Chua, who is a professor at Yale Law School, USA. She argues that the Chinese methods are the most effective way of raising a successful child. According to Amy, there are three main differences between Western and Chinese parenting. First of all, Western parents are concerned about their children’s’ psyches, while Chinese, roughly said, aren’t. For instance, if a child comes home with a B on the test, some Western parents would still praise their child. The Chinese mother would probably gasp in horror and start an immediate long and hard practice session. Secondly, Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything, while Western parents like Jed (her husband) has the opposite view. The Westerners will most likely say, the children don’t choose their parents and the children don’t owe their parents anything. â€Å"Their duty will be to their own kids†. 2 Third, Chinese parents know what is best for their children, while Western parents will probably say that the children must figure out themselves what’s best for them. As you can see, there is a huge cultural barrier between the Chinese and Western parenting. She uses studies in her article, which increases her credibility like, â€Å"In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70 % of the Westerns mothers said either that â€Å"stressing academic success is not good for children†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. By contrast, roughly 0 % Chinese mothers felt the same way†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 3 Even though she uses a lot of studies to increase her credibility, it is still important to notice that the article is entirely subjective. Throughout the story, you can sense that Amy Chua thinks the Chinese methods are the most effective way to raise a successful and happy child. It is exemplified in her story about Lulu, who tries intensively to learn a piano piece called â€Å"The Little White Donkey†. Lulu cannot do it in the beginning, because it is a very difficult piece of art for young players. That is not acceptable for Amy Chua, who keeps pushing and threatening her (according to Western mothers). According to Amy Chua, she is just motivating Lulu to achieve her goals. Amy Chua’s husband says, he does not want to see Lulu get insulted and mistreated like that. â€Å"Sophia could play that piece, when she was this age†, Amy responded. So Amy and Lulu continued practicing and all of a sudden, Lulu did it. Even Jed gave Amy credit for that one. Jed (as a Western parent) worries a lot about her self-esteem, because Amy pushes Lulu to the edge. But as a parent according to Amy, one of the worst things you can for your child’s self-esteem is to let them give up. â€Å"There’s nothing better for building confidence than learning you can do something you thought you couldn’t†. The story about Lulu and the title of the article provokes the reader. She uses a provocation for the intended reader, who is most likely parents in the USA, by naming the article â€Å"Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior† which demeans the reader’s parenting skills. It engages the reader to read the story, because they want to know why she would say such thing. Furthermore, Amy constantly compares the Western and the Chinese mothers and it is often to lead the reader in a certain direction. She uses the story to increase her credibility by telling the reader that the Chinese method is an effective way to success. The children must possess a strong psyche to survive the very rough Chinese methods of upbringing. The Chinese methods can have fatal consequences for the children. You can for instance lose your individuality as a human being by trying to satisfy everyone but yourself. You also lose the ability of self-realization, where you can do exactly what you want to do. The Chinese methods, roughly said, transform you into an object instead of a human being. It is documented that the methods cause psychological damage to a lot of children in China. The high suicide rates, depressions and rebellious behavior are a consequence of the very rough methods of upbringing. Lots of children’s academic excellence is â€Å"forced† rather than chosen. Some children may respond well to â€Å"Chinese mothering†, and hopefully for Amy Chua’s sake, her own daughters are among them. But on the other hand it is impossible to be â€Å"the No. 1 in every subject except gym and drama. †4 It is important to have diligence, but on the other hand, you’ve got to have some talent as well – especially, if you want to be the best at everything. Let me conclude by repeating that it is not healthy for every child to be forced to achieve academic excellence. You have to respect every child’s individuality and support their decisions, so they do not end up by doing something they actually do not want to do.