Effect of the Tiger Mom

With the discussion in class today and the ongoing discussion on the blog about "tiger moms", I thought it would be interesting to instead of looking into the parenting style itself, but the effect that it has on the children.  The intense parenting style definitely can help lead a child in the right direction by pushing them towards things that will make them more successful in life such as good academics, involvement in clubs, and more.  However, even if the child succeeds in these different aspects, it can greatly effect the child emotionally.  According to Huffington Post, high achieving Chinese Americans have a much higher stress level and lower self esteem than their European-American counterparts.  This is due to the different parenting styles employed by the cultures, and the different standards.  Many tiger moms, including my own mom, try to set very high standards for their kids, sometimes seemingly impossible, in order for their child to do the best they can.  Not only is it difficult for children to always be meeting these expectations, when they fail it can also significantly damage their self esteem.  In Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, at one point she talks about how she forced her seven year old daughter to sit infront of the piano until she mastered a song.  Not only is mastering a song difficult for a seven year old, the expectation placed upon her by her mother can really only damage her self confidence after she repeatedly fails over and over again to try and meet the task.

A study done by Desiree Qin also highlighted the effects of the tiger mom parenting style on Chinese Americans.  Qin surveyed roughly 500 freshmen, 300 asian and 200 white.  The questions mostly highlighted family relationships and cohesion, and the results came in as expected.  Most of the students talked about how they constantly faced conflicts within their family, mostly over grades and how their family lacked cohesion.

Although controversial, the tiger mom parenting method is quite successful on paper.  Students on average seem to get better grades, get into better schools, and appear as the people that many strive to be.  However, although those who have tiger parents may seem to have the perfect college application does not mean that they are quite as perfect as they seem, most importantly in the mental aspect.