‘Tiger Parenting’ Is Typical In Asian Families, But Does It Really Work? Here Are The Pros & Cons

Living in an Asian household with Asian parents? Well then, “tiger parenting” is surely something many of us may have witnessed first-hand.

Tiger parenting is still a debatable method as it uses harsh methods to control children. Yes, it is a form of strict and demeaning parenting as it uses methods of fear and authority from a parent to make their children comply with their demands, based on the Asian values of independence of creating a committed relationship between parents and children.

Signs of a Tiger Parent

According to First Cry Parenting, here are the typical signs of a tiger mom or dad:

• Not allowing their children to hang out with their friends more, or have sleepovers
• Expecting their children to secure first grade in all their exams, harsh punishments included if they fail to do so
• Caring more about standards rather than the child’s love for handmade gifts, wanting children to be the very best in everything
• Caring more about what their children achieve rather than how they achieve, value their self-esteem more than the child’s capabilities
• Children being scared of telling things to the parent as they fear their parent might not like their idea or situation and rebuke them
• Not trusting their children with most things, keep on reminding and ordering them
• Relying more on following rules and regulations, rather than keeping their children happy
• Having their children follow a rigid routine of more work and less play
• Children tend to not invite friends over as they’re scared of their parent’s authoritative nature

Pros of Tiger Parenting

Although tiger parenting can be viewed as a little too strict and harsh on children, it has been reported that it can have potential benefits according to researches.

Here are the pros of tiger parenting:

• Tiger parenting rules tend to encourage the skills of self-discipline in children. By following constant rules and orders around, children tend to understand the importance of having a disciplined life and inculcate self-discipline.
• Although there is a constant fear of punishments, children reveal their true potentials and learn to be the best to achieve success in their lives.
• Tiger parents shape their children to be responsible even though they use harsh methods to teach children.
• Tiger parents’ goal is to shape their children into happy, successful, and well-adjusted adults, which results in children being goal-oriented and focussed.

Cons of Tiger Parenting

Any parent would wish the very best for their children. However, tiger parenting reportedly has some cons too. Obviously. It is said that it may have adverse effects on the upbringing of a child.

According to Berkeley News, Qing Zhou, an assistant professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley said studies on tiger-parenting leans toward poor mental health for kids.

“Children raised by authoritarian parents are showing maladaptive outcomes, such as depression, anxiety and poor social skills.”

Here are the typical cons of tiger parenting:

• As the parents believe in setting high expectations in their children, the children feel overburdened and pressurised.
• The children are always scared of making mistakes as the tiger mother or father can use harsh methods as punishments for the mistakes.
• Living in constant fear may give rise to anxiety and depressions in such children.
• The fear of perfectionism hinders growth in children.
• In tiger parenting, the children always live under their parents’ constant guidance. It may lead them to be more dependent on others and develop poor coping skills.
• Tiger parenting results in negative cognitive and emotional development in some cases.
• Tiger parenting rules hinder children’s creativity and growth as they are told to follow the rules and regulations strictly.

The verdict: Is tiger parenting all that effective? 

According to First Cry Parenting, researchers have summed up that tiger parenting is not the best parenting style as parents must adopt supportive parenting when raising their children.

In a study conducted, parenting types are divided into four categories on eight traits, four of which are positive while the other four are negative. While positive traits refer to love, warmth, and such, the negative traits relate to fear and pressure required for motivating them. The tiger method of parenting scored high on all the eight traits while the supportive parenting scored high on the positive traits only.

While tiger parenting may have some pros as well as some cons, it is reportedly believed to be a non-good method of parenting for children.

What are your thoughts on tiger parenting? Let us know in the comment section below!

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