Yesterday, I began reading the book
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua, as a source for my junior theme. This novel chronicles Ms. Chua's life as a "Chinese Mother" and her experiences of pushing her two daughters to achieve seemingly impossible goals. One very interesting line in the book says, "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 their children'... By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way"(Chua, 5) It seems that, in America (especially in wealthier areas such as the North Shore), there is a huge emphasis on the amount of stress students have to deal with on a daily basis. Even though the schools and parents aren't doing much to eliminate stress, they still acknowledge the fact that the it exists and isn't necessarily a good thing. On the other hand, according to the study above, Chinese mothers embrace the stress and view it as a positive and necessary part of their child's success. Ms. Chua definitely agrees with the later point of view (as proven by every single page in her book). Which way of viewing stress do you think is most healthy/effective?
This topic is so interesting! I recently saw an article (Chicago Trib?) about this mother and it explained the way she's raised her children and everything but not in a negative light, as many people see it in. I have to be honest, I don't think it's healthy for a young person to be under stress constantly, but the article claimed that her kids are growing up to be successful and healthy. The question is- what's too far? If parents start raising their children by this same method, what's the limit? I feel as though it's dangerous to look at her theory of raising children as a positive one because who knows how successful it'll be when a different mother tries it? This could turn out to be an epidemic of unhealthily kids who are being pushed and pressured by their own parents.
ReplyDeleteLike Hayley, I read an article about this book when it first came out and was instantly intrigued! I think that emphasizing stress as a positive influence may actually make stress healthier. It's medically proven that ill patients recover in a shorter amount of time with a better outlook. Couldn't the same idea be placed on stress levels? I feel like I am often stressed out about being stressed out. I think that having a better attitude about stress might help me get rid of some of that stress. After all, I know I am most productive when I am under the most pressure.
ReplyDeleteWhoa! I just read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and I agree with some tactics she used, but others were a little overboard.
ReplyDelete