It is common that every parent wants their children to excel and make them proud. Sometimes, parents unknowingly apply an inappropriate parenting style to achieve their goal—doing everything possible so that their children always win and excel in everything.
One of the parenting styles that parents apply is “Tiger Parenting,” which was initially introduced by Amy Chua, a law professor, in her book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom.” In her book, Amy Chua represents the strict parenting style she applied to her daughters.
After Amy Chua’s book was released, the American Psychological Association used the term “Tiger Parenting” to describe strict and authoritarian parenting styles. To know more about “Tiger Parenting” you can dive into our post to find the information.
What is Tiger Parenting?
It is common knowledge that “Tiger Parenting” refers to an “authoritarian” parenting style, strict parents, and parents in complete control. When used properly, some parents believe that tiger parenting can teach their children to be more disciplined, diligent, and focused at a young age.
Tiger parenting is typically used by parents who have a strong desire for their children to be successful and achieve everything in their lives, particularly academically. Tiger parents will exhibit several characteristics, including:
- Parents should insist that their children achieve the highest possible grades in all subjects at school.
- Parents can enroll their children in various tutoring or training programs.
- Feel proud when their children succeed in getting a high score at school. Otherwise, they will feel disappointed and even get angry when their children get a bad score.
- Don’t be afraid to punish their children if they fail to meet their parental expectations.
- Don’t allow their children to play or hang out with their friends.
- They tend to not care about the wishes or interests of their children.
- They are only interested in their children’s accomplishments and are uninterested in their efforts to achieve these accomplishments.
It’s important to note that tiger parenting actually has a positive intention, i.e., guiding and helping their children to achieve success in the future. According to some studies, however, the application of overly strict and authoritarian parenting styles for children, such as tiger parenting, can really have a negative impact on children’s emotional development and even their mental health.
Potential Risks of Tiger Parenting
Children who grow up with tiger parenting usually tend to associate their self-esteem with their level of success, especially in the academic field. A study explains that children with tiger parenting are not guaranteed to have a greater opportunity of achieving academic success compared to children who are raised with other parenting styles.
Reportedly, children with tiger parenting will always feel afraid of making mistakes that make their parents disappointed. Aside from that, they also tend to have difficulty blending in and adjusting to their surroundings. If it happens for a long time, it can really increase the risk of the children experiencing prolonged stress, anxiety disorders, and even depression.
Considering there are too many negative impacts as a result of applying tiger parenting, it would be better for you to avoid applying this parenting style to your children. Instead of applying “tiger parenting,” authoritative discipline would be better to apply to your children.
It is well known that an authoritative parenting style allows parents to nurture, support, love, and respond to their children while maintaining firm boundaries. With the balance of freedom and boundaries set by parents, children may be expected to grow into independent, disciplined, confident, and responsible individuals.
In fact, educating, disciplining, and parenting children is not easy at all. However, as a parent, you may try to apply the best parenting style without ignoring your children’s true wishes. If you find it hard to determine the appropriate parenting style to apply to your children, you can also try sharing it with other parents. If necessary, you can also talk to a psychologist regarding this parenting style matter.
Okay, that’s the information about the tiger parenting style and its impact on children’s mental health. After knowing the bad impact on your children, you shouldn’t apply this parenting style.
