Is There More to Life Than a Grade?

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Justine roberts, the x banker who started a mother's web site, mumsnet, in her back room after her babies were born. Justine has just published a new book, of which she is the athor, the mum's net rules,. aimed at parents who would like to navigate parenting without losing either their cool or their sanity. The ne's way is one of obsessing about perfection. In amy's book, she talks about only top of the class is acceptable. Gold medal is the only medal i will accept. If all that matters in life is scoring top marks, when will you ever take a chance?

Why are there so many Chinese maths and music prodigies? Because Chinese mothers believe schoolwork and music practice come first, that an A-minus is a bad grade, that sleepovers, TV and computer games should never be allowed and that the only activity their children should be permitted to do are ones in which they can eventually win a medal - and that medal must be gold. These methods certainly seem to get results but do they make for the rounded individuals Western parents are striving to bring up? Isn't it better that our children should be happy rather than burnt-out brain boxes? Who's right and who's wrong? In this debate from June 2011, Amy Chua, author of the best-selling Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and Theodore Dalrymple, the writer and psychologist, speak for the motion. Justine Roberts, co-founder of Mumsnet, and Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent and parenting expert, speak against the motion. The debate was chaired by columnist and broadcaster Jenni Russell

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