from the Quora thread [1] (Christine Lu says) "UPDATE: I emailed author Amy Chua this evening (1/9). Expressed my disappointment about the WSJ piece and pointe

from the Quora thread [1] (Christine Lu says) "UPDATE: I emailed author Amy Chua this evening (1/9). Expressed my disappointment about the WSJ piece and pointed to this Quora thread. To my surprise I received a prompt reply from her that said: Dear Christine: Thank you for taking the time to write me, and I'm so sorry about your sister. I did not choose the title of the WSJ excerpt, and I don't believe that there is only one good way of raising children. The actual book is more nuanced, and much of it is about my decision to retreat from the "strict Chinese immigrant" model. Best of luck to you, Amy Chua" So it looks like someone at WSJ added a link bait title. And it worked. That said, this "parenting style" does seem to border on cruelty. Yishsan Wong (Director of Engineering at FaceBook)'s post (on the same Quora thread) on his experience in being the subject of such a parental style is a must read. This bit seemed particularly relevant to HN "What I see among other Chinese children who I was raised alongside or who I see now in workplaces today is that this method of Chinese parenting is great at producing skilled and compliant knowledge workers, but it utterly fails to produce children who can achieve greatness, remake industries, or come up with disruptive innovation. All the Chinese-American people I know who now perform at the highest levels - both creatively and technically - either achieved this without being driven to it by their parents (ask Niniane Wang about her upbringing) or in rebellion against the paths their parents set out for them (see Tony Hsieh http://www.businessinsider.com/t... http://www.businessinsider.com/t...). The others - the skilled and compliant mediocre - make superb employees for the truly great, and if that is what their parents consider "successful," then that's exactly what they'll get.What I see among other Chinese children who I was raised alongside or who I see now in workplaces today is that this method of Chinese parenting is great at producing skilled and compliant knowledge workers, but it utterly fails to produce children who can achieve greatness, remake industries, or come up with disruptive innovation. All the Chinese-American people I know who now perform at the highest levels - both creatively and technically - either achieved this without being driven to it by their parents (ask Niniane Wang about her upbringing) or in rebellion against the paths their parents set out for them (see Tony Hsieh http://www.businessinsider.com/t... http://www.businessinsider.com/t...). The others - the skilled and compliant mediocre - make superb employees for the truly great, and if that is what their parents consider "successful," then that's exactly what they'll get." fwiw (I don't have any children and nor do I intend to have any so this is all empty theorizing) I believe that the best way for parents to teach a particular set of virtues or skills (discipline, piano playing, whatever) is to embody those virtues and skills in their lives and leave it to the kids as to whether they should be emulated. [1] http://www.quora.com/Parenting/Is-Amy-Chua-right-when-she-explains-Why-Chinese-Mothers-Are-Superior-in-an-op-ed-in-the-Wall-Street-Journal http://www.quora.com/Parenting/Is-Amy-Chua-right-when-she-ex...