A Near-Religious Devotion to Education


Every now and then you read a point of view that you completely disagree with. I had just such an experience while reading the stance on parenting of a 2nd generation Asian-American, Ryan Park. He had followed the stereotype course of most Asian children: “excelled in school”, went to a top college (Harvard Law School), and had a well-paying job (lawyer).

But the stereotype “immigrant overachiever” says he doesn’t want to be a “tiger parent” to his daughters. Park has decided to become a heretic, to abandon the religion of his ancestors: “a near-religious devotion to education as the key to social mobility”. He doesn’t intend to follow the “traditional Asian parenting model” of “imposing pain now to reap meritocratic rewards later”, to churn out “academic gladiators”.

Like I said, I absolutely do not subscribe to Park’s view on academics.

In case you are feeling sorry for my daughter, let me refresh your memory on what kids do to their parents via some Game of Thrones parallels:
-          Just when you think you’ve figured it out, the kid changes. For the umpteenth time. And you’re scrambling to find a new course of action. Same as what happens every few episodes of GoT. Or as Ygritte said:
“You know nothing, Jon Snow.”
-          The dragons get bigger every season. One of them even goes over to the dark side. Do I really need to spell out the parallel to a kid? As Lord Varys said:
“A very small man can cast a very large shadow.”
He may have been speaking figuratively but it applies to a kid… literally.
-          “Valar dohaeris”
Translated from high Valyrian, it means “All men must serve.” Isn’t that the perfect summary of parenting? All parents must serve.
-          And then there’s the little matter that she’s a girl. As one blog said:
“Maybe your daughter is like Arya, strong, determined and takes no shit. Or maybe she’s like Margaery, sweet, determined, manipulative and takes no shit. Or maybe she’s more like Cersei, a total asshole who also takes no shit. Note the theme here?”

In any case, whatever my views on academic excellence, all I have are theories on how the story will go:
“What happens, as time goes on, is up to one person and one person only: George R.R. Martin. Or your child, depending on what we’re referring to. At a certain point, you’re just going to have to trust that what they’re doing is the right thing.”

Comments

  1. Ramiah KumarAugust 20, 2018 at 4:25 PM

    I think there will confident voices about "what education should lead to" in the end. From what the blog suggests and from what everyone sees around, it appears to me that nobody really knows "how to educate anyone"! :-)

    This subject may be one area which deserves the application of that sentence which every cop utters (in the Western Countries, at least) while arresting a person for any criminal offence, "whatever you say can be used against you!" No hope!

    Since all of us groping in the dark, will someone "educate" us - but how?! :-)

    ReplyDelete

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