A question for parents, teachers, coaches etc.

It's been almost a year since Amy Chua published her controversial book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,  yet in spite of all the media attention it received this past year, the issues she brings to the fore continue to hold relevance in our time. 

This is due to the intense and and often passionate scrutiny under which formal education on all levels (particularly college) finds itself in the US today. Mrs. Chua has not focused especially on formal education in the first half of her book (the half I've read), but her emphasis on industry and hard work point toward the same end: success. 

As discussed in an earlier post, the recession of 2008 has led many to question assumptions once made regarding formal education, most particularly that a college education  guarantees a good job, and therefore makes taking on massive debt to achieve that end worthwhile. Given that student-loan debt in the US topped 1 trillion dollars this past summer, perhaps it is right to question such assumptions. 

But what of other assumptions should we question? A major theme in the first half of Battle Hymn is that children cannot be trusted to do what's good for them, so far as their future is concerned. Given the freedom to get less-than-perfect grades, practice the instrument (or choose their instrument for that matter) when they like, or remain only at grade-level in mathematics all lead to inevitable decadence and waste. Childhood is a time of training to become confident, competent adults of exceptional brilliance and skill. Anything less than top of the table is a failure. 

Quite a vision, eh? It's remarkable how an idea can simultaneously seem so repulsive and attractive. How many young people dream of being successful professionals someday? How many children nurse an ambition to transform themselves into confident and brilliant adults? And yet how many alone can cobble together the industry and intellect required to make that dream a reality? 

That's a pickle (one of many) in our time, and it leads some parents, teachers, and coaches to question how to approach the cultivation of talent and skill in young people. Should they employ an iron fist or an open palm? Assume strength in all cases, or weakness instead? Is childhood a time of training for adulthood, or a unique stage of life that transcends traditional conceptions of success?

These are hard issues, and I'd like to finish Mrs. Chua's book (and think some more) before diving in myself. You're welcome to share your thoughts if you have them, and wrestle with this important issue. Many thanks, and of course,

Happy Tuesday :)