Mrs. Liu’s nine-year-old son runs on a tight schedule. His day starts at 5AM. At 6AM he is already reading Chinese Literature, after which he gets ready for school where he spends most of his day.
When he returns home, he does his homework and continues studying until 10PM. At 11PM he goes to bed.
On weekends, he has piano lessons, Chinese calligraphy, taekwondo, swimming, practice for Chinese board game Weiqi, Latin dancing, and mathematic exercises to prepare him for the International Mathematical Olympiad.
The boy also has English lessons every night during weekends.
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He gets a break, too, but it comes in the form of watching for 30 minutes Xinwen Lianbo—the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship news program.
A proud tiger mom, Mrs. Liu uploaded a photo of her son’s schedule online, and in a matter of hours drew flak from her harsh methods.
Although there were people defending Mrs. Liu’s parenting methods (“with such a strict schedule, you won’t see this kid mouthing off to elders,” one commenter said), the general reaction was negative.
“[Liu] has a mental illness that requires treatment at the hospital,” one said.
“She’s pushing her kid to satisfy her own vanity,” said another.
“This is the sorrow of modern education in China!”
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This urge to push her child to do better stems from her own childhood. An alumni of the prestigious Peking University, she said:
“It is important that children have a sense of time and self-discipline. Actually, this was how I was brought up; my father was in the military, and he too raised me this way.”
Battle hymn of the tiger mother
Aware of the criticism that she received, Mrs. Liu came out to her own defense:
“Some people think I am sick,” she told reporters, “but I’ve since discussed it with my former classmates at Peking University, and they all think this is quite normal.”
Mrs. Liu added: “To have an easier future, it’s better to have a tougher childhood. My father once said that learning is all that children should do! Otherwise, society will weed them out.”
As for claims saying she is depriving her son sleep, she said this: “Actually, six hours is just right—he’s never been caught dozing off in classes. If he gets good grades, we reward him with a holiday.”
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