When thinking about Asian children, the child does not come to mind, but rather their parents do. Asian parent-child relationships are usually stereotyped to be authoritarian rather than egalitarian. Whereas, in the West parent-child relationships are said to be more egalitarian, therefore insinuating that Western children have more freedom and an implied state of happiness over Asian children. Many of these stereotypes are due to Hollywood and how they portray other cultures, leaving someone to believe that their culture is the better of the others. .
Due to the stereotype of Asian children being smarter than, well, everyone, Western parents are pushing their children to compete against the Asian children; to be better than anyone else. Western parents may think that their child needs more education in order to best all other Asian countries; but is it the child that needs to change, or rather the parent? Different parents have different expectations from their children, so how do they differ? How does one culture excel above all others? The answer is simple: it begins at the home.
In an interview, Amy Chua, a Chinese professor at Yale University, and a mother of two, stated that American parents have lower expectations of their children and that is why they fail at anything they do (her words, not mine). She also said that she had a clear list of what she wanted her two daughters to do, and things that they could not do, "Attend a sleepover, have a play date, watch TV or play computer games, be in a school play, get any grade less than an A". Many people criticized Ms. Chua for her parenting style, some saying it was abusive. However, Ms. Chua stated that there was nothing wrong with that, admitting that that was how her parents had raised up her and her other siblings. When her eldest daughter yelled at her and said that she hated her and her life, Ms. Chua decided to ease some of the pressure she had placed on her young daughters.
