A Child’s fun and Self-esteem versus the Survival of a Nation – Part 3/3

April 16, 2011

When you study the average life span in other Asian countries such as China (68 for men and 71 for women) and India (59 for men and 60 for women), we learn that other Asian nations don’t do as well as Japan.

Then why do Asian-Americans beat every other racial group in the US at just about everything?

Could the answer be parenting methods leading to a better education and healthier lifestyles?

Here are some facts that are food for thought — In the American Mental Illness Olympics, I wrote that Asian-Americans had the lowest incidence of serious mental illness while Caucasians had the highest numbers.

In fact, if you do some Googling, you will discover a larger ratio of Asian-Americans graduate from high school and college than any other racial group in the US.

Asian-American teens have the lowest incidence of drug use, alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy and HIV-AIDS, and STD rates.

Asian-Americans also make up the smallest number of teen street gang members in the US.

Amy Chua, who wrote Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, is an Asian-American parent. It may not come as a surprise that Chua is under attack by many “average” American parents.

A good place to start learning what it means to be a better parent would be to read Parenting resolution revolution that a friend forwarded to me. Then, as a parent, practice all sixteen points of advice with number sixteen being what my friend wrote, “One big missing item is NO TV!”

Remember, today’s children will be tomorrow’s citizens.

Return to Part 2 or start with Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

When it comes to Parenting, One Size Does Not Fit All – Part 2/5

April 8, 2011


In Part 1, I mentioned that I’d been a public school teacher. I also mentioned an essay in The Wall Street Journal and a memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, released by its publisher a few days after the essay appeared

To carry this conversation further, I want to say that studies and personal experience in the classroom as a teacher say that 80% of American parents never attend a parent- teacher conference during the 13 years of a child’s public education.

For me, it was less than 20% but more than most of the staff at the high school where I taught since I made more phone calls to parents than any of the 100 teachers where I worked.

This means the “average” American child grows to be a self-centered, selfish, narcissistic adult with few of the values that made America great. Instead of a solid work ethic, the goal is to have as much fun as possible on a daily basis while chasing dreams that often do not come true and go into debt doing it.

The reason for this is that the average American parent has fallen for SAP (The self-esteem arm of Political correctness).

This method of parenting, which started in the 1960s, has been the loudest in US history and often condemns anyone that falls outside its “soft, boost self-esteem and have fun” approach to parenting.

The SAPs are also responsible for the battle against spanking as a last resort to child discipline.

To be continued in Part 3, April 9, 2011 at 12:00 PST, or return to Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

Leave a Comment » | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese women, cultural differences, education, family values, parenting | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse