Tiger Mothers In Training

February 08, 2011 | By | Blogs, Malcolm's Blog, Yup! | Comment

Whether you agree or disagree with Amy Chua and her controversial book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, you’ve got to give her props for the swift kick she has given to the contemporary conventional parenting hornet’s nest.

Under the above title, Po Bronson, writing in the 1/31 issue of New York Magazine has written the best commentary I’ve seen on the controversy.  Bronson’s subtitle observes, “To judge from the backlash, lots of American parents find Amy Chua horrifying.  To judge from the book sales, something else is going on.”

After setting the stage, Bronson asks, “If everyone hates this lady, why is her book selling so incredibly well?”  She then goes on to give both sides of the answer, at one point even thowing in some confusion with the observation that “the lessons Chua is imparting are undercut by the fact that her style of parenting is no longer the norm in China.”  Having Westernized, Chua says that “Chinese moms are now as warm and accepting of their children as their American counterparts.”

In the end, Bronson concludes, “Chua may be too extreme to adopt as a role model, but that doesn’t mean that parents won’t turn to her book as their guide.”

Check it out at http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/70838/

Onward,  Malcolm Gauld

About the Author

Not only is Malcolm Gauld the President of the Hyde Schools, he is also a "client" - a member of the class of 1972 and the father of two graduates..... During the past thirty years Malcolm has served Hyde as history teacher, coach of men's and women's championship teams, and administrator - including twelve years as headmaster at Hyde’s Bath, Maine campus. He became the president of Hyde Schools in 1998..... Malcolm is the author of College Success Guranteed - 5 Rules To Make It Happen (Rowman, Littlefield - 2011), a guide for beginning college students. He and his wife Laura, head of school at Hyde-Woodstock, are the authors of The Biggest Job We’ll Ever Have – The Hyde School Program for Character-based Education and Parenting (Scribner, 2002)..... He received his B.A. at Bowdoin College and his Masters at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. In 1995, he was a Klingenstein Fellow at Teachers College, Columbia University..... A life-long athlete, Gauld continues to play lacrosse and basketball, has completed several marathons, and is an avid surfer. He is passionate about music, especially rock, jazz and blues. He and Laura have been married over 30 years and have three children: Mahalia '08, Scout '10, and Harrison.

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