Kids need discipline, but if you give too much discipline and don't allow them to choose for themselves, and love them for that, you get a much different product in the short term.

What this woman is raising, is HARSH people. Sure, they will grow up and be "successful" but what profits it a person if they gain the whole world and lose their own soul as they too in turn, treat all others harshly, because that's what they have become? We don't need more harsh heartless people in this world.

Ask Donny Osmond what he thinks of how his father treated him, to make him "great" and of all the childhood lost in the process. Same thing with Michael Jackson. Kids need to be kids, and parents need to stop being prideful, trying to make THEIR kids better than everyone else's kids. So much pride in parenting, that's what this is.

I think this woman has the right idea. Children and young adults today have no sense of having to work hard for something, they EXPECT things. And I say this as a younger adult myself (just barely 30 years old). I've never heard so many people say, "Well, that's not my job" or "I don't know how to do that so you'll have to find someone else" before in my entire career and it's because these kids/young adults weren't raised with discipline. My parents gave me a great deal of freedom in my choices, but they also made it very clear that they had certain expectations of me, ie. get good grades, get into a good college, do well and find a good job and work hard. Mediocrity was not an option and I'm not a soul-less robot.

My father was the exact way but my mother was the balancing force. In my house hold it was either an A or Not . I am the same way with my child but I have learned to give a little when it comes to playdates and sleepovers because those are things that are important in social growth. The ironic thing is that my parents are African-American and this type of expectation is not promoted in our community. My father always said that the Chinese understood excellence.

perfect!!!

I was so ready to give up on the "milllenium" parents until now. I am ecstatic someone has finally spoken up and tell it like it is. Face it, American kids are whiners and lazy because they have it all and don't even know it. If you don't believe me just stop and wonder why kids whine about going to school and taking piano lessons when children in other parts of the world wish in vain they had the golden opportunity to leave behind an impoverished and hopleless future.

look who would have turned hard on her own mom and dad in Mao's China !

She needs a billy club

 What was her husband doing while all this was going on.   I would hate to be with this woman.   I am married to an Asian woman from Taiwan and her kids excelled very well without all of this junk!   She is certifiable and her daughters will eventually rebel once they go to college.

 As I always said.

If you have self motivated children, raise your kids the Western way.  If your kids are not self motivated then apply the Chinese (Tiger Mom) way.  That's my point.

CA

There are many approaches to raising children which are based on cultural or religious preferences.  And certainly some elements the approach described in "Tiger" seem extreme.  While there are many many successful stories about the more familiar "Western" approach we must also be mindful that on a population basis it too has many shortcomings:

Teenage drug use:  By 12th grade more than 50% of student report some drug use.  Granted this statisic includes alcohol and many parents say thank goodness it was only alcohol. And some parent even condone the use of alcohol by minors.  Parent should keep in mind that alcohol kills 5 times as many teenagers as all other drugs combined.  Perhaps the parents should lean more towards discouraging all drug use including alcohol.

Teenage Suicide: Teenage suicide is the third leading cause of death among people between the age of 15 and 22.  Even more disturbing is that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among children ages 10-14. Often times parents are totally suprized when a child commits suicide indicating that despite what they may have thought was a good relationship with their child, they actually had no idea how the child we thinking and feeling.

High School Drop Out Rates: The national average drop out rate is approximately 33% but can range between 10% and 42% depending on many factors. Parents have the primary responsibility of ensuring that their children complete their work and receive maximum benefit of what their school has to offer.

Teenage Obesiety:  Obesiety among teenages has tripled over the last 20 years and now stands at 14%.  While there is some controversy about the cause of obesiety among teenager the vast majority of this problem likely could be corrected by parents paying more attention to their childrens diet, exercise, social health and emotional health.

Teen Violence:  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 30% of children in grades 6 through 10 experience bullying as either the target or as the bully. The CDC also estimates that 33% of high school students were involved in at least physical fight with a 12 month period.  17% of high school students admit to carrying a weapon (knife, gun or club) in anticipation of violence at least once.  And of course we are all aware of cases of extreme teenage violence such as the massacre at  Columbine High School.

The list can go on an on but I think the point is easy to understand and that is both the cause and solution to many of the issues listed above rest with parents.

Children need rules and boundries. The American children are rude, lazy, and without any form of manners what-so-ever. They lack respect. These things are taught at home. So the bottom line these kids with no rules and boundries are now the wards of the State in our Prison System.

I dont know, but as a recent graduate of a huge, world-class university (Purdue), let me just start by saying, 99% of the people I met who were absolutely insane (getting arrested, sleeping with 5+ people per week, getting drunk for days at a time, etc, etc) attended private, higher-class schools, usually had strict parents, are were often looking for ways to express themselves.

In fact, the kids who seemed to have it 'all together', were ones that had loving, but out-of-the-picture parents. They were too busy working, taking care of other siblings, etc.

In the book, 'The Inner Game of Tennis', Gallwey speaks of the human mind leaning best from simply observing, rather than being coercively forced into something it cannot and will not do. Whether this is math, music, history, or tennis, is it essentially the same concept: the human mind evolved well before people could forcefully apply their own rules. Think about it.

The essence of success is small enjoyment in activities.

Now, this does not mean parents can't be strict. But to be the Fuhrer is not the answer, either.

Having said all of this, my parents let me do what I wanted. I got decent grades in high school, As, Bs. I did multiple things outside of high school I enjoyed..including music, theater..I dated many girls...I drank when i was in high school. I smoked pot. I did a lot of typical high school stuff.

But that's just me. I live in the USA.

Well well, she is trying to sell a book, who'd a thunk it?

Maybe the idiocy of the statements are only geared towards creating a buzz that results in dollars.

Either way, she is simply dishonest in her presentation. Having much personal experience with Chinese culture, I can say that the real driving forces behind this type of achievement pressure on Chinese children are twofold:

First is the gain or loss of face (social status) by the parents that rest on the child's achievement. The child is seen as a tool to provide bragging rights and higher perceived status based on thier success of failure.

Second is the hopefully high paying, high status career that results is intended to directly financially benefit the parents. The kids are literally conceived and raised specifically to financially support the parents.

This is not a joke. If you spend time in China you can learn this. Before anyone starts weaving lovely myths about what a moral and responsible society this type of child rearing creates, take a good look at China, rampant corruption, prostitution, infidelity, graft, unabashed cruelty towards non-family and the poor as well as animals. Really, Chinese society has some very good points, I lived there, but in many aspects it is not utopia.

This whole story is just more western China drooling hype.

Dear "Shot a man in Reno...",

Please don't bother questioning my intelligence. You're tag line "Shot a man in a Reno..." is a question of YOUR intelligence. My "inane ramblings" are mine and mine alone. And nice use of adjectives. Look at you go....

She has some REALLY GREAT points! A majority of American children waste SO much time on computers, games...... A lot of parents now days are almost scared to push their children to excellence! Look at the new movements in sports everyone gets a trophy....let us not keep score...wouldn't want children to actually learn that sometimes they may loose...or better yet one might have to work to achieve success! I think that there has to be a balance children have to be allowed to grow,learn, play be kids but they also need to be pushed to do more than they think they can. Children are for the most part lazy and they will work as hard as parents or educators set the bar. The problem is a lot of people set the bar way to low! Think of what some children might achieve if they are simply challenged more!!!

Watch and listen carefully..

She recounts the story of how her father gets furious at being invited to an awards ceremony in which she places second. He says "don't ever disgrace me like that again".

She tells us here that this parenting approach is all about pride. The child's achievement serves the social and status needs of the parent. It is not about making a happy child it is about making the parent look good, period.

Yes, China has a VERY high suicide rate among young people.

It's just my opinion that Amy and her husband did a fantastic job raising the girls, they also learned lessons along the way, as she stated in the interview it was a journey, she also stated that, this book describes her family, this upbringing is about her family and the way it went down, it's not for "ALL" families to follow her lead.

Most of us with western ideas on how to raise our kids, could learn a thing or two from this family, remember these are kids, they need guidance and direction until they can figure it out on there own, and hopefully by the time they figure it out, they are ready to move forward as productice citizens and respectful adults. Which are two qualities that a lot of our kids are missing today, respect and productivity. Of course kids want things there own way, 10 out of 10 times.

These parents knew how to say "NO", I know saying "NO" was a struggle for me when I was raising my kids, but I did it anyway-sometimes-but my kids turned out very productive, and responsible. Of course now my grand daughter doesn't understand no, of course that's a whole new story.

They no longer live in China because they are taking advantage of what America has to offer.  They do not care about Americans, America, or anyone else in the world.