Editor's Note  

Nothing matters more to parents than their child's well-being and education. Most want the best but lack the opportunity. Others have the best but are at a loss as how to achieve the correct result.

From Tiger Moms to Eagle Dads to gifted children from normal backgrounds, this hot topic has been intense. With the help of parents and experts here, in our special report, we will bring you the latest lessons in the education debate.

Parenting Styles

Chinese families often contain a strict mother and a gentle father and that discipline and guidance from mothers are essential in putting children on the path to future success.  [More]

'Eagle dad' forces son to run naked

A man calling himself "eagle dad" ,considers himself a new Chinese parental archetype in the tradition of the so-called "tiger mom". He uploaded a video of his 4-year-old son, whom he had forced to run naked in the snow. [More] 

Violinist, 3, becomes online star

A little girl playing the violin has become a hot topic online after her father posted pictures on the Internet.While some people supported her father for cultivating her interest in music. [More]

Debate:  Parental Expectations

Tyranny of parents' huge expectations 

As early as primary school, a Chinese child is expected to aspire to a profession that offers good rewards, whether that be medicine, law, engineering, computing, business or accounting. Unless the child has an extraordinary amount of initiative and bravery, activities that do not help the child achieve this goal are minimal. [More]

Realistic expectations needed

Considering China's social reality, culture and traditions, parents whose main motivation in life is their children's development are beyond reproach, and in fact, parental expectations, if appropriate, are beneficial to a child's development and social progress. [More]

Parents should live their own lives

If adults pin all their hopes on the next generation and simply interpret their own meaning of life as the upbringing of the next generation, they will compromise their own self-realization and live their lives vicariously through the next generation.  [More]

Nothing wrong with education system

For a long time, some people have been saying that China's education system hampers students' innovative capability and does not prepare them for the practical problems of the real world. But this view is not true. [More] 

What if Expectations Fail

Two rows of students, considered naughty or not performing well academically, sit an exam outside a classroom at a middle school in Jinxian county, East China's Jiangxi province, Nov 8, 2011. The temperature dropped by a dozen degrees and many students were shivering in the cold.   [More]

Elementary and middle school periods are an important time for children to develop personalities. Educators are supposed to be good at inspiring students to find their interests and explore their originality, rather than building up a hierarchical system in such an imposing manner. [More]

The first experimental primary school of Weiyang district in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, requires students with a poor academic record to wear green scarves instead of the red scarf, which is the norm for primary school students throughout China. The news sparked a heated debate among netizens. [More]

Better Parenting

 Best of both worlds

 Yale entrant has no tiger mom or wolf dad

 Give children their childhood

Having her daughter enrolled in one of the world’s top-notch universities, Ms Zeng does not duplicate a "traditionally Chinese" way of raising child. Saying along with her husband, she never spent too much time on preaching to her daughter or interfering with her own life, the report said.

"Neither is my husband a 'wolf father', nor is I a 'tiger mother'." Ms Zeng says, "but we always believe that our child has her own outlook and her life goal. We only need to trust and support her, "the paper quoted Zeng as saying. [More]

Chinese children suffer mentally because of parents like "Tiger Mom" -the Chinese approach creates smarter people.

Chinese parents have to respect their "children's rights to have a happy and playful childhood", and relaxation and proper physical exercise are the key to building such an environment. To "foster smart, creative, and physically and mentally healthy children", Chinese parents should combine Western-style parenting with the traditional Chinese way. This type of "open and democratic" parenting will help children to be not only scholastically inclined, but also socially capable. [More]

 Experts' Opinion

Studies conducted by the China Youth and Children Research Center show that more than half of Chinese secondary school students study overtime and they don't get enough sleep. And more than 70 percent of students in primary and middle schools take after-school tutoring classes, which is considered a heavy burden on children.

And this situation turns many parents into demons like "Wolf Father" Xiao Baiyou in Guangdong province, who supported his children's learning with verbal abuse and physical violence. [More]

First tigers and now wolves, I suppose we'll get the entire animal kingdom covered pretty soon. Such reports of Spartan parenting instill fear among Western parents and complacency among their Chinese counterparts, none of which is healthy or justifiable.

Generally speaking, Chinese parents lag far behind their American peers in participating in the education of their children. In the Chinese countryside, many parents leave home to earn a living as migrant workers. [More]

There is no need to push children who are obedient and diligent with too demanding requirements, which might curb their natural abilities, for those children who are not so naturally talented, such a parenting style might be needed so as to make the children achieve their potential.

It is natural for parents to expect the best of their children. However,  it is unrealistic that all children will be able to develop into somebody in a particular field however hard their parents try. [More]

Doing More for Our Children 

 2011 Top Education News

"Tiger Mother" became well known both in the US and China after the publication of the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua, a professor of Yale University and a Chinese immigrant mother. In the book, Chua describes how she educates her two daughters in a strict "typical Chinese" way. [More]

The South University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTC), became "China's first independent university"-the only university to recruit students through its independent exam rather than the National College Entrance Exam adopted by almost all public universities in China.[More]

Wuhan schoolboy Huang Yibo, 13,known as the deputy chief of all Wuhan's young pioneers, became an overnight sensation after blogging about watching prime time news on China's  Central Television since he was two years old and reading People's Daily since the age of seven because his father asked him to do so.  [More]

The First Experimental Elementary School of Weiyang district in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, hit the headlines for requiring students with a poor performance to wear a green scarf, distinguishing them from the good performance of the red scarf, a symbol for the Young Pioneer organization.[More]

Dong Fan, a professor from Beijing Normal University, the director of the university’s real estate research center, refused to see any of his students who do not possess 40 million yuan by the time they are 40. Dong said people who had received high-level education should be ashamed if they do not live a wealthy life.[More]

The No 4 classroom building on the campus of Tsinghua University, one of China's elite colleges, took on the name of a popular clothing company, the Hong Kong-based Jeanswest Clothing in May. A golden-colored plate bearing the name of the company was affixed on to the wall of the teaching building.[More]