That was a nice article. I myself was raised in a similar environmental, so I can identify with it to an extent. I was always pushed hard for academic performance and I can say that it helped me to a great extent. Today when I'm going to college just for gods sake (yes really) I still take out time to study just for the "praise, admiration and satisfaction." Today I really have no incentive to study further, I make a decent income via internet marketing and have decided that I'm never going to take up a job and whatever it is that I do, I'd be self taught in it. But still I study because over years I have developed a reputation of being academic and got praise and recognition for it. Suddenly getting 40% or dropping out of college would do more to hurt my self-esteem now. Thats said I don't fully agree with the "eastern" style of parenting as it is stereotyped. The stereotype is far from true, even in the east their are all kind of parents. Even the western style is very surprising to me. Is it true that such things are unthinkable for western parents: Chinese mothers can say to their daughters, "Hey fatty—lose some weight." Once when I was young—maybe more than once—when I was extremely disrespectful to my mother, my father angrily called me "garbage" in our native Hokkien dialect. --- One guest named Marcy got so upset she broke down in tears and had to leave early. (lol) Chinese parents can say, "You're lazy. All your classmates are getting ahead of you." By contrast, Western parents have to struggle with their own conflicted feelings about achievement, and try to persuade themselves that they're not disappointed about how their kids turned out. Call their child "stupid," "worthless" or "a disgrace." EDIT: Interestingly, the poll on the site shows 2/3 support for easter style parenting: http://online.wsj.com/community/groups/general-forum/topics/western-parents-too-indulgent
I think they teach greater self discipline and perseverance (which I do admire), yet the Western system is probably better at developing creative individuals who can think outside the box. With "praise, admiration and satisfaction" the first two are not really that important to me. At times, they've even made me a bit uncomfortable. It would take too long to explain. However, satisfaction (self) is a motivating factor for me. One of my New Year's resolutions is to improve my English writing skills, and I'm going to be taking some classes online this year. One of my biggest dreams is making a full-time income online (what you're doing). I don't think I'll do that by writing. If I suddenly lost my regular income it would definitely be possible, but would involve writing 12 hours a day. I don't want to work that hard. LOL. So, I'm working on plan B to see how that goes. Once I'm making a full-time income online, I want to move out to the country and live like a hermit!