By: Jocelyn Li
Many Asian-American parents are known for their ‘specialized’ method of parenting known as “tiger parenting”. But as schooling becomes more and more competitive, the amount of stress and pressure on students of all nationalities has increased immensely. This has led to many suicides, causing a prestigious school district’s superintendent, David Aderhold, to propose changes. These changes are meant to include “‘social-emotional development’ and ‘deep and meaningful learning’ over academics alone.” Chengdu immigrant Helen Yin doesn’t think “limitations can help…If children are to learn and grow, they need experiences.” Emotional and social skills are extremely vital to a student’s well being, especially since there is a need to control the increasing amount of suicides occurring. But taking away certain academics will not only displease the Asian parents who moved over to the district for their academics, but it also isn’t the most effect method to stabilize the mental state of pressured children. As Helen Yin says, students need to be exposed to the real world, rather than learn from a classroom. They need to be provided with opportunities that can allow them to understand more of how things work outside of school. Because Aderhold’s idea of promoting the “whole child” will not necessarily positively affect both students and parents, the method should be held off temporarily.
From: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/nyregion/reforms-to-ease-students-stress-divide-a-new-jersey-school-district.html?_r=0
