George,
Your post is timely. I just finished reading Rick Hess’ take on the “tiger moms” issue. It’s pretty devastating.
What we actually have here, it seems to me, is the Yale law professor version of Octomom or the Kardashian sisters–one more narcissist eager for her fifteen minutes. The problem is that this kind of cultural debate driven by the Chuas and Octomoms of the world doesn’t leave a lot of space for sensible reflection. Meanwhile, it primarily rewards folks for cooking up increasingly outlandish and attention-getting shticks… like being a “tiger mom.”
So, parents just got treated to a month of hearing via television, major newspapers, and the cover of weekly newsmagazines that good parenting entails becoming a manipulative drama queen eager to dictate every moment of a child’s life.
Rick reminds us that, sometimes, the messenger is just as important as the message.
