# Tiger Mum vs Serenity Parenting
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-mum-vs-serenity-parenting/585174
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 12, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-mum-vs-serenity-parenting/585174 "2011-06-12T00:47:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-mum-vs-serenity-parenting/585174/1 "2011-06-12T00:47:51Z")
I wasn’t sure whether to put this in the debate section, but interesting discussion between authors of recent books with differing advice.
> [@](#):
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> Yale law professor, and mother of two girls, Amy Chua gave the world a new type of mother role model in her memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother: someone who insisted on several hours of music practice every day, banned sleepovers and wasn’t happy with anything less than an A+ for schoolwork. Bryan Caplan, economics professor and father-of-three, whose new book says nature will always win over nurture, is an exponent of “serenity parenting”, the belief that parents should stop hothousing their children. Can either of them change the other’s mind? Emine Saner listens in.
> **[Amy Chua and Bryan Caplan: Is strict parenting better for children? | The...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/11/conversation-strict-parenting-amy-chua)**
>
> The conversation: Tiger Mother Amy Chua says her super-strict parenting style helped her kids succeed; but professor Bryan Caplan is not convinced
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### Author:  [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-mum-vs-serenity-parenting/585174/2 "2011-06-12T03:42:06Z")
I’d like to know if there’s anyone who follows John Rosemond’s approach. I don’t mean, do they read his books and take a tough stance on homework. I mean, do they confine their kids to their rooms for months (for the first infraction, “so they’ll never forget”), mock them, belittle them, change the rules on them without warning, and generally do all they can to break their spirits? And I’m not exaggerating: he really does advocate breaking the spirit. Because all children are born bad, according to him.
He has a tone of utter contempt for children and teens. Some of his case histories could just as easily be presented as examples of psychological abuse (although they also seem made up). Overall, his “advice” seems like it’s aimed at people who somehow got stuck with kids and want to carry on as if they don’t have any. It’s all about pushing the child away while demanding total subjugation. I don’t see how anyone who loves their child could treat them the way Rosemond advocates. Does anyone, or is he an outlier?