<p>Chua’s non-Asian colleague predicts that her book would make into a movie. That colleague did not allow his 7-year old daughter to have a dog unless she came up with a peer-reviewed publication. She did and a dog is theirs. Yale is a tough place to be. High expectations is the norm.</p>
<p>[The</a> Economics of Tiger Parenting - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Freakonomics - The hidden side of everything”>The Economics of Tiger Parenting - Freakonomics)</p>
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Jian Li matriculated at Yale. I think there are plenty of people who would accept that situation. He was, at the very least, a crybaby. I guess Harvard took him as a transfer to shut him up.</p>
<p>I will say this at least for Amy Chua–she doesn’t seem to have this victim mentality.</p>
<p>The concept that a certain level of scores, GPA and academic achievement does not <em>entitle</em> one to a seat at HYP – nor does that make it “unfair” if someone with lower objective scores gets a spot – nor does it mean that said person “stole your deserved spot” – is a concept that a lot of people who are supposedly sooooooo smart seem not to understand. Maybe intelligence isn’t all about GPA and SAT scores, go figure.</p>
<p>Fabrizio, when will you get that HYP admissions (any elite admissions for that matter) is not just about the stats, it’s about the class they wish to build, and so arguing that Jian Li was “denied” his rightful spot is silly?</p>
<p>Jed Rubenfeld is guilty of allowing Amy Chua’s treatment of her girls to continue. I predict one day when they hold their mother accountable for her behavior they will hold him accountable for not doing more to stop it.</p>
<p>But this is between him and his daughters, I shouldn’t even know about it and I wouldn’t if Amy Chua hadn’t dragged everyone into the spotlight. Why would I say anything against him? He didn’t ask my opinion, he didn’t write the book, he didn’t ask that the nation know about what happened in his house.</p>
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<p>Good to know! </p>
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<p>Pfft. The lady who calls a man of action a “loser” speaks to me of “dar[ing]”?</p>
<p>Also, I wasn’t aware that one could be “half Catholic” and “half Jewish” at the same time, seeing as how Catholics believe in the Trinity and Jews don’t. Besides, since when did religions become ethnicities?</p>
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<p>And Jian Li was totally arguing for your straw man of numbers only admissions. Exactly. His interview where he went on record as saying that subjective criteria ought to be considered (just not race) never happened. It was just a figment of my imagination.</p>
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<p>I will “get that” when you get that you are knocking down a straw man. Admissions that does not consider race is not equivalent to “stats only” admissions. Not that hard of a concept to grasp, y’know?</p>
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<p>I paraphrase my post to Pizzagirl: if an Asian on CC complains about racial preferences and negative action, you’d call him a “crybaby.” If an Asian in real life complains about racial preferences and does something about it, you still call him a “crybaby.” So how can Asians oppose racial preferences AND NOT BE crybabies? Because it looks like doing something about it doesn’t change your evaluation.</p>
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<p>Oh well, deal with it; I get to call myself whatever I like and if half-Catholic and half-Jewish accurately describes my family upbringing, so be it. Your assumption that because I currently identify as Jewish today, that therefore my failing to call out Jed Rubenfeld was because we “share the same ethnic group” (=stick together), as opposed to the common-sense fact that * he didn’t write the book, isn’t traveling the circuit to promote it, and it’s the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother as opposed to Battle Hymn of the Tiger Parents *, is just amazing.</p>
<p>I call anybody who gets into Yale and complains about being rejected by Princeton a crybaby. They should leave the legal process open for people with real problems.</p>
<p>And what does Jian Li have to do with this anyway? Criticism of Amy Chua is somehow a criticism of Jian Li, all Chinese people and (most absurd) the People’s Republic of China? She’s the one who contrasted her “Chinese” parenting to the inferior Western style.</p>
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<p>Whatever floats your boat, ma’am. You seem to have no issues with calling people who take action “losers” as well as no qualms against backhanded compliments to “sooooooo smart” people, so it’s good for you to know what it feels like to be on the receiving end every now and then.</p>
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<p>You are aware that the OCR did not strike down Li’s complaint as frivolous, yes? It may not have been a “real” problem to you, but the OCR thought otherwise.</p>
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<p>I brought it up to remind xiggi that his track record of predicting things like “Sophie Chua-Rubenfeld is screwed now” isn’t exactly stellar, given what happened to Li.</p>
<p>Gosh, I bet xiggi’s probably called a baseball game or football game inaccurately too! Shame on him!</p>
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<p>It’s that social tone-deafness, a complete lack of understanding that the vast majority of Americans will hear about someone who got into Yale and complained about being rejected by Princeton as a whiner. It’s a complete lack of understanding of what it takes to be “elite” in America – and whining ain’t it.</p>
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And where’s the final ruling in the case? The last time anything about it was reported in the press was 2008. My prognostication is that you will never hear anything about it ever again.</p>
<p>And fabrizio, are you sticking up for Amy Chua simply because she is Chinese, or is it because you approve of her parenting methods?</p>
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<p>You changed the subject. You dismissed it as not a “real” problem. Now you’re tacitly acknowledging that it was not frivolous, but you’re requesting that I provide a source to the nonexistent final ruling. That the OCR decided to expand its investigation as opposed to killing it outright plainly indicates that it was not a trivial matter.</p>
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<p>Well given my post to Pizzagirl, I would be a hypocrite if I said my ethnicity has nothing to do with this, now wouldn’t I?</p>
<p>I wasn’t surprised to see that the “usual suspects” were commenting in this thread and denouncing Chua and even her daughter. So in this regard, yes, I am sticking up for Chua because she is an ethnic Chinese. (You do know that her parents are from the Philippines, right? She uses ‘Chinese’ in a cultural sense, not a national one.)</p>
<p>As for Chua’s parenting methods, I think the key takeaway is that nothing is fun unless you’re good at it. Let’s face it: most kids are not as innately talented as, say, Terence Tao. And so for most kids, a parenting style that places more structure and routine in certain activities, be they academic or extracurricular, is beneficial. Now, if your kid really is as smart as Tao, then you probably don’t have to do any intervention at all because your kid will want to do it on his own. I seriously doubt whether Tao’s parents had to do any pushing given how good he is at mathematics.</p>
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I was tacitly saying anything–what I am overtly saying is that the case is going nowhere because there is nothing to it. You can tell me I’m wrong when OCR does something. I advise you not to hold your breath in the meantime.</p>
<p>I resent your reference to the “usual suspects.” As I’ve said to others, take a look in the mirror.</p>
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<p>Well, that’s certainly an intelligent way to think. Defend someone just based on shared ethnicity - don’t bother to examine the substance of what they have to say.</p>
<p>BTW, no one has denounced the daughter. People have commented that the daughter is in a no-win position - she’s only what, 17, 18 years old, she really doesn’t have the license to say “Mom was over the top, I kind of wished I’d done some normal childhood things.”</p>
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<p>But that’s not TRUE. People can enjoy playing ball, going ice skating, singing, doing a million different things that they aren’t necessarily good at. Or they just need to get to basic competency. You are conflating “being good enough at to have some level of enjoyment” with “having to be the best.” The Chua girls could have enjoyed piano / violin without having to be at the 3-hour-practice-every-day-even-when-sick-or-on-vacation. But Amy Chua isn’t bright enough to distinguish between being good at, and being the best at. </p>
<p>And no one is objecting to a parenting style that places structure and routine in activities. We are objecting to doing so in an abusive manner. Like it would have made one damn bit of difference if, upon her daughter not getting the piano piece, Amy Chua had said, “That’s ok, honey, you’re tired and we’re both cranky. This is a difficult piece and you tried your best. Let’s leave it alone until practice-time tomorrow.” It wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference if they’d gone out and enjoyed the sights of Greece and skipped a day or two or practice, but instead Amy Chua insisted they spend time in piano practice rooms. But go ahead and defend such a style, fabrizio.</p>
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<p>Resent all you like. Is it merely coincidence that the users who write in favor of Asians’ accepting negative action are the same ones who are pouncing on Chua here? I think not. And I am no hypocrite; I’m quite aware that I’m a part of a mirror group to the “usual suspects.”</p>
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<p>When Amy Chua said this what she meant by being good was being the best, winning awards, being first. She didn’t drill her kids so they could achieve some proficiency at something, she did it so they would win.</p>
<p>I disagree with her thinking so much. I’m a runner and it is so much fun for me. I’m not very fast, my kids tell me I look ridiculous, I’ve never won anything, and I have more fun running than in anything else I do.</p>
<p>If I may, I’d like to take a moment to remind everyone what the Olympic creed is</p>
<p>“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”</p>