Over the past few weeks a very hot debate has emerged on a topic that I believe is very important and deserves far greater attention than it normally receives -- PARENTING! As much as we blame the youth for the decline of society, let's face the truth: children are a product of their parents.
An innocent five-year-old has little say in his life and all the things that determine who he becomes are decided for him by his parents. Overly permissive parenting and greatly weakened parental control are most definitely culprits for a lot of the decay of values we see amongst adolescents today. In a country that prides itself on freedom and rights, it is in the hands of parents to instill in their children a sense of responsibility and duty.
So how to do this? It is a question that has become the center of much controversy and debate in the media recently thanks to the publication of a book by a mother named Amy Chua. (Book Name) is a memoir by an Asian mother on how she raised her kids and the things she revealed came as a shock, to say the least, to the Western world.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on this book in an article titled "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior" and amidst the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, it raised some important questions on parenting. In her book, Amy Chua talks about how she was strict with her two daughters, did not tolerate anything but excellence, forced them to play musical instruments, and punished them. For many, this sounded like child torture and parental abuse. And yet, let's face the facts. China is clearly on the rise and Asian students are consistently coming far ahead of their Western peers. Could this be attributed to a difference in parenting?
Regardless of how you feel about Amy Chua and the things she did (I would be the first to say that it is far from ideal parenting), there is no doubt that the significance of parenting cannot be understated. It is something that each of us ought to think about greatly in this difficult time as we plan for a better future and I hope that this is something each of us discusses and forms a better opinion on.
I'd love to hear your comments!!!
Here are a few links if you want to read about some of the major things that have played out in the media…
The original article in Wall Street Journal written by Amy Chua herself…
What Amy wrote and what people are saying...
A Western Mother defends her ways...
Awesome discussion on Parenting...
And of course for fun, Stephen Colbert with Amy Chua...
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