Tiger Mom's Secret to Successful Children

I'm not a parent. But I'd imagine there should be a middle ground between a tiger mom & a Gen X 'let the kid do whatever he/she wants' that should happen. Instead of 4 hours of practice, 2 hours and 2 hours to do whatever you want. A balance between structure and freedom.

while i agree overall on what she says. controlling her childern lives is too much. discipline is good. but a devouring mother? that's a nightmare

Well, Michael Jackson was deprived of a childhood and that scarred him, despite it making him very successful. I don't see how this ends well for the kids.

She's like the reactionary manifestation of the Me generation that rewards kids all the time and refuses to be critical. She's all about discipline and criticism to get results, less about love and understanding. You need both approaches!

I went to a VERY academic high school with many students whose parents were exactly like this. My parents by contrast let me do pretty much whatever I wanted, helped me whenever I needed it and understood and accepted when I failed at something. Those kids with the "tiger" moms are in the EXACT same place as I am now- in fact many are LESS successful than I am personally and professionally.

Superiority = big ego Insecurity = low self esteem Worst type of people to have to interact with in my opinion.

For those people who are saying this is "racist", the point about Nigerians are spot on. I went to school with many exceptional people, some of them went on to study at MIT. One of them, an African American, was indeed NIGERIAN (he had lived in Nigeria, immigrated to the USA). He had an amazing WORK ETHIC and sense of fidelity and values. He is black, other African Americans are black. Is it really a genetic difference that is holding whites and blacks behind compared to Jews and Asians? Or is it culture? What makes Nigerians so special? A very thought provoking segment.

Tiger mom is a perfectionist. I swear, her way of raising children is just as bad as having kids rule the house.

How the hell is calling your kid "garbage" motivating them to get better?

Also my mom wanted me to study piano for 4 hours at day and I stopped playing piano; do you think the two things are related?

I think tiger moms are not aiming at make their kids succesfull and happy, they just want to have children they can be proud of when they are with their friends.

Id rather have strict parents rather than parents like mine that didnt care about my future.

I am half black, half Thai, and neither parent was there much of my life. My grandmother (dad's mom) was pretty close to being a tiger mom while in my life (a clinical psychology professor) and all of the successes I have achieved in my life, I give credit to her. I am on the verge of starting law school, not many people can say that and with parents who wish only the best with no guidance, children are more likely to shoot up schools than graduate from them.

" true self esteem has to be earned " gotta agree

This is very common and normal in Asian households. 😊 Nothing new.

6:33 his eyes say it all

You dont need to be a strict parent to have kids that excel. I have played games most of my life, and done things to strengthen my mind, and thats why I excel at most things that I do. In fact, one of the only things I dont excel in is socializing. Thats only because i'm a very evil person, though. I'm a straight, white, conservative, male. No surprise that I cant make friends.

You need a balance. Give kids useful discipline like house chores, a variety of mandatory volunteer experiences in the community, spiritual discipline, health discipline, career research discipline. Don’t just force them into a career. You can force useful hobbies and practices on them when they are children, but also allow them to be themselves and communicate with you openly (by being accepting even if you don’t understand everything they’re thinking) and support them in their predispositions. Everyone is made for something different. Not everyone has to excel at $100k+ careers. Some people just want to work and start families and be involved in non-profit projects for the community. We have to try to be flexible. Teach your kids discipline and the emotional skills to discover and recover.

"Your kids love you?" "I think they do!" The fact she has to say "I think they do" and not "I know they do" is kind of concerning to me.

I'm a strong advocate of discipline, but even for me, this seems too harsh.