Tiger Mom Parenting Methods

̶0;Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,̶1; a memoir by Yale professor Amy Chua, stimulated considerable discussion about parenting techniques and the effect on children. Although Chua notes on her blog that her original intent was simply to capture her frustrations as a parent, others have criticized Chua for promoting a strict, if not outright draconian, style of parenting.

  1. Psychological Control

    • Chua describes a style of parenting that includes considerable psychological control. She did not allow her daughters to watch television, have sleepovers with friends or to have similar experiences that are common for other American children. Nor did her children experience play dates, play computer games or choose their own extracurricular activities. Chua insisted that they must play the piano or violin, must be the number one student in every subject except gym and drama, and that her children could never get a report card grade of less than an ̶0;A.̶1; According to Chua, her tiger mom style mimics the way her Chinese immigrant parents raised her.

    Derogatory Language

    • One of the most controversial aspects of Chua̵7;s parenting style may be the way she talks to her children. Chua relates that her father once referred to her as ̶0;garbage̶1; and that she herself used the same term toward her older daughter. She says that a Chinese parent can call her child ̶0;fatty,̶1; ̶0;lazy,̶1; ̶0;stupid,̶1; ̶0;worthless,̶1; or ̶0;a disgrace,̶1; without impairing the parent-child relationship. Many other parents would call the use of such derogatory terms insensitive at best and abusive at worst.

    Drilling Academics and Other Subjects

    • Chinese tiger moms, Chua writes -- although she notes that they are not exclusively Chinese -- spend as much as 10 times more each day drilling their children on academics than the typical American parent. Chua describes spending hours of time with her daughters, forcing them to practice the violin or piano for two to three hours at a time. She describes an instance with her youngest daughter, in which she refused to allow her daughter to eat or take a bathroom break until she had mastered a particular piece of music.

    Research on Tiger Mom Parenting

    • A March, 2013 study published in the ̶0;Asian American Journal of Psychology̶1; reported that children raised using tiger mom methods were more likely to have lower grade point averages, more symptoms of depression, a greater sense of alienation and less sense of family obligation. In another study described in an April, 2013 "Child Development" article, the study authors noted that Chinese culture might make parents base their own self-worth on their children's performance, which increases the tendency to be psychologically controlling.

    Benefits and Costs

    • The real question about tiger mom parenting strategies is whether they are effective. Chua̵7;s youngest daughter rebelled against the tiger mom tactics, which forced Chua to change her parenting strategy. In an April, 2012 article from Texas A&M University, Jeffrey Liew, a developmental and educational scientist, is quoted as saying that with the sort of strict and harsh parenting popularized by the ̶0;Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother̶1; the costs to children̵7;s social-emotional well-being and mental health are high, even if the children do become high achievers.

    2. Previous:

    Next: