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IELTS Topic: FAMILY
Reading 2
Happiness is overrated
Original source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Jenna Price says parents should have expectations for their children.
I asked one of my kids what it was like to have a tiger mother. She replied with just one word. Horrifying. Then she paused. “Horrifying but good.”
“I didn’t appreciate it at the time but I look back and realise how lucky I was.”
I care not for the race-related anxieties of white families. I care about ensuring children have enough cultural and social capital to be prepared for a life of serious engagement. And if that means they have to complete their schoolwork before they go out to party, big deal. And if they don’t complete their schoolwork to the best of their ability, they don’t go out to party. That’s the big deal.
We must have expectations of our children and hold them to account.
That shouldn’t just be reserved for the sporting field. Sport is important but it’s not the most important thing in a child’s life. Learning matters.
School work matters. Times tables. Spelling. Grammar. Major dates in history. Learning to put in your fair share of effort when you do group work. The need to think out difficult concepts and be able to argue for your position.
And you can’t do any of that without reading, reading, reading. Preparing for exams and completing them to the best of your ability. Making a real effort. No poor excuses.
Psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg says parents must “prepare their children for the world”.
I was shocked at the level of animosity directed at Yale professor Amy Chua when she published her book in 2011, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Shocked because the racism was unrelenting but also shocked because much of the response was endorsing laissez-faire parenting.
We can’t do that. Parenting must be active, engaged, informed.
“I want parents who are in the business of preparing their children for the world,” says Michael Carr-Gregg, psychologist and author.
And how important is happiness?
“Sometimes you do things which aren’t much fun. Happiness is massively overrated.”