Chinese Parenting Vs Western Parenting

“Chinese Parenting" vs. "Western Culture Parenting”

　　Everyone has different view on the proper way to raise children. Chinese culture and western culture have several extreme differences. The views are from two different sources. Amy Chua, a Chinese mother, raises her children in a strict, unpleasant manner. Hannah Rosin raises her children in a more loving, caring environment. The difference in children upbringing is comparable to night and day.

　　Amy Chua is the mother and famous author. In Chua’s description, she explains western parenting skills. She believes Chinese parents are superior in Parenting. Chua’s article explains how, in Chinese culture, It is considered appropriate to insult your child if they are not meeting expectations of the mother. Things like "stupid" and throwing a birthday card back at their children for claiming its not good enough, are considered an appropriate reprimand for Chinese mothers. Chua sums up the Chinese approach to activities in this way: “What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you’re good at it” (Chua, 2011). With this, Chua promotes an approach to such activities as learning a musical instrument; she believes that two or three hours of practicing an instrument daily is appropriate for young children. Furthermore, Chua believes that parents should not give their children any choice over which musical instruments to learn; the violin and piano are the only acceptable choices, regardless of the child’s natural talent. This approach is also evident in academics. Chua says, “…the vast majority of Chinese mothers…believe their children can be ‘the best students, that ‘academic achievement reflects successful parenting and that if children did not excel at school there was ‘a problem” and parents “were not doing their job” (Chua, 2011).

　　If a Chinese child came home with an a A-, there would be hours of extra satisfying and immediate changes in the child's routine. In the article, Chua states several rules and regulations that are expected on a daily basis. “Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do: attend a sleepover; have a play-date; 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.”(Chua, 2011).

　　Here are several positives and negatives in raising children with Chinese culture. Positives would include straight A's in school and praise. People with this amount of discipline turn out to be extremely smart leading them to advance and move up in life as expected out of Chinese culture. Negatives to this wold be lack friends and no time to oneself.

　　In Hannah Rosins view, there is a much more lovable and hands on technique. Westerners have the exact opposite view of how a child should grow up. Children are encouraged to make things like handwritten birthday cards, being their own person and making their own choices for what is considered wright and wrong in the world.

　　Hannah Rosin takes a different approach to success, one that is arguably more reflective of Western attitudes in general. Rosin says, “Ms. Chua has the diagnosis of American childhood exactly backward. What privileged American children need is not more skills and rules and math drills. They need to lighten up and roam free, to express themselves in ways not dictated by their uptight, over-invested parents” (Rosin, 2011). In Rosin’s view, Chua’s version of success is ultimately very limiting. Rosin doesn’t argue that success is a negative thing in and of itself; however, her looser, freer approach suggests that it can be achieved differently.

　　For Hannah, getting a B on a paper is not so horrendous as Chua made it seem. A Westerner would tell the child how proud they are and if the child wanted to work on their skills to better their grade, the choice is theirs. Hannah believes children should be hugged and kissed on a daily basis. All things that would horrify Chua are encouraged in western culture.

　　Here are sever benefits to raising a child in the western way. Kids grow up feeling loved and cared for, feeling like they will be encouraged to make their own choices in life and be who they want to be. They learn to love and have compassion. On the contrary, they do not have the discipline that a Chinese upbringing en-stills upon them. Many Chinese upbringings end up being math whizzes or excellent at musicians.

　　Another area where Rosin and Chua differ from each other is in their approach to self-esteem and the way in which parents should treat their children. Chua openly admits that it is common for Chinese parents to make comments to their children that Western parents find disgraceful, such as “Hey fatty, lose some weight”, or referring to a child as “garbage” (Chua, 2011). However, Chua defends these comments by arguing that in fact, Chinese parents speak in this way because, they believe that their children are capable of being the “best”. She contends that Chinese children know that their parents think highly of them, and criticize them only because they have high expectations and know that their children can meet them. Hannah Rosin disagrees. She says, “…there is no reason to believe that calling your