A "Tiger Mom" Tells All

I grew up in such a house hold so I know what she is trying to say. at times, i do have to agree with her at some points. I see kids on the buses or on the trains running around, hogging seats, screaming, spoiled beyond repair and the parents don't know what to do with them because if they lift a hand on their child, its abuse or such, but is it worth it to leave the child to run wild? she at least cares about her children enough to instill discipline. while most don't see it as such. I lived that life. this is how SOME Asians run their house hold. this is HER opinion and her results. I wouldn't have gone through the extent that she details in her books or follow my parents down their path in discipline, but i will probably use some of the approach with my own children.

Each parent makes the decision for their child(ren) according to religious, social, ethnic, emotional (and a hundred other) reasons. Today's american children are either being micromanaged throughout their day with school and extracurricular activities or they are sitting idle in front of a televison or computer screen. She is obviously coming from a place of deep cultural tradition and doing what she feels is best for her children; she may have strecthed the usual boundaries in some people's minds (and I personally feel the agressive and hurtful words are inappropriate) but have you seen that ridiculous toddlers and tiaras? I rest my case.

I think the Tiger Mom style of calling your children names is inappropriate and hurtful. I also think not letting your children attend sleepovers and play dates restricts social growth. I understand wanting to have your children be good at academics but there is also a need to have your children be socially accepted too. I agree with msfriendly-there needs to be a balance when being in charge.

I think it's all about balance.....enough said.

I have never seen or heard of this, but I think this chick is going overboard. I can totally relate to her forcing them to say play a musical instrument, because I have had to force my own kids into doing things they didnt want to do and they ended up actually liking it, but at least them THEM choose the instrument. It doesnt have to be an ultimatum, just something open ended thats makes then choose like ok do you want to play piano, violin, flute or tuba? Pressuring them the bring home nothing less than an A is setting them up for disaster. Sure, we would all love for our kids to have staight A's but the pressure on those kids alone must be overwhelming. I can see her wanting them to be the best they can be, but clearly when their best isnt enough they get verbally abused. what kind of message does that send? Im seeing lots of mental and anger issues when those kids are older. Poor things

This is the first of seen of this. I agree with Katie..children need to be children. Heck that's part of the joy of raising them. While I may agree with being strict about grades (but heck once my kids hit high school C's were good enough for me) calling names and degrading them is nothing short of verbal abuse. In the instances where I was so angry that I've called my kid a name (instead of correcting their behavior) I've always apologized. I don't want to do that to my kids...I was called names on a daily basis by my mother and it still hurts.

I guess I'll be the first to comment. I saw them discussing this book on Fox news. I personally think that children grow up to fast as it is and they need to be children. No parent is perfect but I do think that this style of parenting is a bit extreme and I don't agree with calling them garbage and pathetic! I think that extracurricular activities such as sports, plays, choir can benefit children more so than harm them. But I would rather see a parent who is trying to be a good parent than one who abuses, neglects, is a dependent on drugs or other.....