Reply to Nyt: Asian American success isn’t a problem

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I expect I’m one of the UMC white people that the article talks about. I can see the perspective, because it’s true that Asian American families have brought a change to the culture of schools, where you cannot do well anymore unless you spend significant amount of time studying outside of school either in enrichment classes or with your family. There’s no doubt that this is a cultural shift, brought from countries where this kind of studying outside of school is common, and where failure to secure jobs in a few specific fields means poverty.

I will freely say that as a parent this is simply not worth the stress and pressure to me. It’s not how I want to raise my kids. And, I know enough about America to know that there is more to life than aspiring to only a few prestigious colleges and careers. I am not going to fight about it, but I certainly am going to escape it. In our area the Asian American families won’t consider any schools ranked less than 7 or so on GreatSchools, so our local schools are largely free of this pressure. Nevertheless, kids go to colleges that are just fine with us, get good jobs, go to grad school, etc.

If you don’t like the new rules, you can choose not to play the game. [/quote]

Love this.  We picked the wrong neighborhood for a decade until we realized exactly what you say - this is not an ‘American’ culture - this decision to cram school which came from our first gen Russian, South Korean, Chinese and south Asian neighbors.  Loved living in such a diverse hood for some reasons but man didn’t like the cram school culture.  Really killed the fun.  My kids often had no friends to play with after school when they were younger.  We simply moved to a more traditional (white and African American neighborhood) - oddly enough for better schools for our kids — and it is better.  Not perfect but better.  By better I mean the district offers all that intense stuff if the child is wired for Harvard but also let’s you be a Hampshirite College kid too.  [/quote]

Both PPs are spot on in describing the realities in some areas. It's absolutely not bad to embrace a culture where so much time out of school is spent on academic pursuits. Obviously, there are significant benefits to children raised this way. But that way of life might not work for every kid or every family, especially if your circle does not include like-minded families. Academic success is well-earned, regardless of where the material was learned, but to be sure, the extent to which "school" success, as measured by test scores, is achieved through out-of school activities and enrichment hides the reality that kids are getting less and less at school.[/quote]

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