Differences between chinese and american culture essay

Comparison-Contrast Essay on the Ideas of Parenting of Amy Chua and Of Hanna Rosin

By

John Stud

Parenting styles differ across the globe and in personal aspect of culture and traditions. What seems acceptable by some parents in equal measures may be considered backward and wrong. Each parent has expectations for their kids, and this is the driving force that dictates how they raise their children, all of them want nothing but the very best for the children. This work will take a deep scope in uncovering and analyzing the conflicting ideas of western mothers and Chinese mothers. Amy Chua, a professor and an author emphasizes the superiority of the parenting skills mothers from China exercise while in contrast, Hanna Rosin disputes the same parenting skills explicitly stating that the end product is of more importance and Chinese mothers overlook the impact of happiness on a child’s life (Rosin, 2011 ).

The first difference in parenting between Chinese and Western mothers is contrasting opinion on success based on the role that success plays in one’s life . Hanna Rosin’s opinion on the significance of a child’s success sharply differs from that of Amy Chua. Hanna categorically states that success will not make you happy, but rather children have to find their happiness through achievement in the thing that they have interested (Rosin, 2011). Hanna upholds the importance of a moderate but happy and satisfied child at the expense of a high achiever whose life is faced with challenges leading to depression. On the other hand Chua advocates for drilling success at all expenses, she believes that Chinese moms are better parents because of their constant pressure they expose to children from very young ages. Room for freedom is not allowed, and children are considered as indebted to their parents (Chua, 2011). She believes that children should not be good at what they do but rather be the very best in whatever they set on doing. No room for average success is allowed as children are considered a reflection of what their respective parent. Chua also states that success comes from mastery and constant practice hence involving your child in master studying, long hours of practicing the violin, and rote repetition enhances chances of raising an intelligent and sharp skilled minded kid. However, western mothers underrate stressing academic achievement as long as the child does his or her best there is room for improvement. An example of a child who brings home an A minus grade in a Chinese setting will be considered a failure while a child from an American setting will be showered with praises .

Another difference is with respect to the significance of constricted rules. Chua firmly holds that mothers must be directed toward a child in a particular path. Subsequently, such a child will never deviate from it. Therefore, this is the major ideology that Chua recommends for parents. She considers this as one of the major setbacks that western parents encounter because they leave most of the decision to be made by children without strict and close follow-up. The Western children, according to Chua are thus left free to undertake decision according to their preferences without such preference being overridden by their mothers as Chua recommends. Therefore, Chua strongly argues that happiness is derived from mastery, and hence Chinese mothers hold that there is nothing fun until one is good at it. Therefore, unlike Western mothers who just want an average achievement for their children, Chua indicates that children not only need to be good at whatever they undertake but also the children must be better than everyone else.

Therefore , Chinese women understand that children must be shown whatever to do as the children themselves do not endorse hard work on their individual capacity due to the existence of superegos coupled with mad drive to succeed (Chua, 2011). However, Rosin disputes this by showcasing that Western mothers are better as compared to Chinese mothers who do not wait for the children to showcase their talents and interest in activity prior to exerting some restriction and direction to advance it through the day. The Western children must, therefore, be left their interest and become experts’ flutist. Thus, Amy Chua primarily focuses the differences between Western and Chinese mothers to depict the greatness of Chinese mothers. Thus, Amy Chua employs several techniques that are effective content incorporating both examples and unique writing styles based on a powerful tone. Thus , Amy Chua highlights three main differences between them just as Chua explicates in her article. For instance, one of the key differences is that Western mothers care greatly about their children pride that determines the words they employ in conversing with their respective children as they anticipate less than Chinese parents. The next difference is with respect to long time traditional thinking particularly the depth of children to their parents as mothers offer their children the forms of lives (Chua, 2011). Ultimately, Amy Chua highlights another difference where Chinese mothers understand their children more deeply as compared to Western mothers. All these are explicated through Chua’s own memoir with Lulu, her daughter. For example, Chua indicates how their children are outperforming their Western counterparts in academics as their mother’s orders for an A grade whereas western mothers just encourage theirs to do their best. Subsequently, we see how she explains what Lulu can and cannot do especially in respect to music; Lulu can play Violin and Piano which takes western children several years to practice hence showcasing the superiority of Chinese mothers in parenting.

In conclusion, Tiger Mother Amy Chua and why Chinese Mothers are Superior showcases the truthfulness of the manners in which parents raise their children decides how well the children grow. Notably, the mothers who impact their children the most must design and implement particular ways of parenting. The level of intensity of parenting distinguishes how the mothers raise their respective children. As explicated by Amy Chua, Chinese mothers adopt a superior way in raising their children. On the other hand, as Hanna Rosin explicates the inferiority of the Chinese mothers in an attempt to defend her mode of parenting. Subsequently, Hanna Rosin’s article entails excellent anecdotes putting her in a position that effectively assist her defend her strategies of parenting. The ‘Kitty Kat’ anecdote, as referred by Hanna's 2-year-old son as he acted out of 'tiger', depicts Hanna’s position amongst other parents in the benchmarks outlined by Chua. Nonetheless, such a strategy never breaks Rosin as a parent either does it cause Hanna to rethink what she does to her children. Conversely, Hanna defends herself through a criticism of Ms. Chua’s mode of parenting (Rosin, 2011). Thus, Rosin exemplifies her children’s upbringing via spontaneity, freedom, discover as well as experience. In my opinion, the Chinese mothers are superior in parenting as compared to Western mothers as showcased in the discussion.

References

Chua, A. (2011). Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior: Can a regimen of no playdates, no TV, no computer games and hours of music practice create happy kids? And what happens when they fight back? The Wall Street Journal , 1-2.

Rosin, H. (2011). Mother Inferior? Amy Chua has the diagnosis of American childhood exactly backward. Our kids don't need more drills and rules. They need to lighten up and roam free. The Wall Street Journal, 1-2.

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