Dear all, and thank you for the article Shu-Chen!
Studies have shown that poor Asian Americans are more than any other racial/ethnic group disproportionately concentrated in metro areas with some of the most expensive housing markets. About half of poor Asian Americans living in poverty live in just 10 cities: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, San Jose, Houston, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Boston and Seattle.The Asian ethnic groups with the most people in poverty in 2010 were Chinese Americans, with 449,356 people living in poverty.
This is the quote I often use from Elaine Ng, former ED of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center. I use this quote to share with colleagues the model minority myth issue facing low income Asian communities:
"..the high poverty rate of Asian Americans is masked by the bimodality of the Asian American population's demographics. At one end of the spectrum are the majority: the high-need, low-skilled, low-income, and poorly educated immigrants who come for economic opportunities and family reunification. At the other end are the minority: highly educated, high-skilled, and moderate- to high-income immigrants who come for academic and economic opportunities. This bimodal construction fuels the Asian "model minority" myth while concealing the poverty and risk for a large number of Asian immigrants."
Fortunately, in these past 2-3 years, national family support agencies and foundations such as Be Strong Families, Abriendo Puertas / Opening Doors, Robin Hood Foundation have stepped up to support the research and development of pilot family engagement models for the low-income Asian communities. The overarching goal is to support Asian family's acculturation process and lead to an increased understanding of the American educational system that the families and the children may be better able to successfully navigate and bridge transitions between home cultures, school cultures, and various school systems. The work has just started and more support is needed as the needs from the low-income Asian communities are often invisible.
I would like to share with you all a 10 minute 2016 PBS documentary, "Home is a Hotel", a story of Huan Di and her daughter Jessica living in a San Francisco Chinatown single room occupancy (SRO), an 8ft x 10ft room single with no kitchen or bathroom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niOhb3WqL10&t=159s
With more understanding of the low-income Asian communities, we, as educators, can help parents and children like Huan Di and Jessica thrive in their school and community.
Please keep your ideas coming!
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Best regards,
Sandy Baba, Ph.D
NAEYC Asian Interest Forum Co-Facilitator
Education Researcher, Community Advocate,
California AEYC Diversity Committee Member
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2017 12:38 PM
From: Shu-Chen Yen
Subject: Asian Parents' Authoritarian Parenting Style and Asian American Children's Mental Health
Dear all,
One article appeared in the Huffington Post yesterday coincided with our discussion. The article titled "Asian-Americans Have Highest Poverty Rate In NYC, But Stereotypes Make The Issue Invisible." The article corresponds well with Sandy's post, and I thought you might be interested. You can read the article at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/asian-american-poverty-nyc_us_58ff7f40e4b0c46f0782a5b6.
Happy reading on a Tuesday morning! I would like to hear your thoughts.
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Shu-Chen Jenny Yen
NAEYC Affiliate Advisory Council
Associate Professor
California State University, Fullerton
Fullerton, CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-08-2017 11:56 AM
From: Shu-Chen Yen
Subject: Asian Parents' Authoritarian Parenting Style and Asian American Children's Mental Health
Dear Sandy,
Thank you for pointing out the truth and sharing your working experience with the low-income Asian population! Yes, we should not overlook the overall population, and not all Asians are the same! If parents are struggling to earn a living for working long hours, they may not have the time to take care their children's needs in different aspects. They may not know the education system, and with the language barrier, they may not be able to do what we expect them to do. So perhaps it is an unrealistic expectation for parents to attend to their children's social-emotional needs?
Your post also makes me ponder the issue of equality vs. equity. The low-income Asian children are struggling to survive in the school system, yet the stereotype of Asian portrait them to be successful, their pressure is enormous. They do not have the "highly educated tiger mom or wolf dad" to help them practice piano, violin, math, debate, etc., but they are expected to be the high achievers. How do we ensure equity before we can provide equality for this particular population? What do you think?

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Shu-Chen Jenny Yen
Associate Professor
California State University, Fullerton
Fullerton, CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-05-2017 04:01 PM
From: Sandy Baba
Subject: Asian Parents' Authoritarian Parenting Style and Asian American Children's Mental Health
Thank you all for having this discussion! I agree it is a complicated issue and that not all Asian parents have the same teaching values. Through my work in the San Francisco Bay Area and the US, I've come to know many low income Asian parents and grandparents who work long hours to make ends meet and are struggling to find time to take care of their children. Many of them are trying to learn about the US education system to help their children yet they don't know where to find the resources.
As an educator and Asian myself, I continue to find ways to debunk the model minority myth that not all Asian are successful in order to find resources for the most neediest. I appreciate Amy's book where she shared her view on parenting, yet she is just one parent, there are many Asian in the US, more than 17,320,856* of us representing different ancestral origins, class, gender, generation, and sexual orientation. I remind myself to stay open-minded and continue to find ways to engage the low income parents who are raising young children in the US...
I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on this!
Best,
Sandy
*2010 United States Census
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Sandy Baba
California
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-05-2017 12:35 PM
From: Cheng Qian
Subject: Asian Parents' Authoritarian Parenting Style and Asian American Children's Mental Health
Hi All,
Thanks, Shu-Chen, for staring this discussion. As an Asian American, past educator and a current doctoral student in mental health, this conversation is one close to my heart.
I agree with what many others have already said. I strongly believe that more parents need to be aware of social emotional needs and development in young children. However, as I have spent a few years doing this, I believe it is much more necessary to show rather than tell parents. In one previous experience, I attempted to educate parents in Beijing about social emotional learning, but to no avail. Many parents, especially more highly educated ones, could spew the "correct" answers of what children needed but also admitted their practice did not align with their philosophy. In other words, it is not the lack of knowledge that keeps them from practicing. Many are fearful of "losing" at the starting line by investing time into soft skills instead of precocious academic achievements their children's peers were learning. For them to take the risk of going against the societal trend takes tremendous amounts of courage and support from others. However, for families I have worked with to boost children's social emotional skills and consequently factors such as self-esteem, the parents are able to tangibly experience the benefits of SEL for their child and many have found courage to focus more on their child's social emotional needs. The question as educators is how do we help parents experience the fruits that intentional social emotional teaching/learning can bring and build an environment where they have the courage to invest in soft skills.
As for the concept of tiger mothering, I have very mixed feelings. First, studies have shown that the prevalence of "tiger parenting" is not as prevalent as the public assumes it is. Second, there has been some academic debate on whether our current constructs of authoritative/authoritarian/permissive, which are based on mostly White, middle-class populations and only describes parenting from the dimensions of warmth and demandingness (and sometimes autonomy), accurately portrays parenting of other including ethnic minority cultures.
One of my past professors who sits on Harvard's committee for mental health for their students once told me that, through her experience, she has found two kinds of tiger mothers: one who builds rapport with their children and one who does not. It's the ones who do not build that rapport, who don't "cushion the hard ground for when they fall" as she often mentioned, that may contribute to the aggravation of mental health problems in Asian Americans rather than simply tiger mothering itself.
It's a complicated issue and I'm glad we're discussing this. I'm looking forward to reading more individual's thoughts on this.
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Cheng Qian
Palo Alto CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-01-2017 01:58 PM
From: Shu-Chen Yen
Subject: Asian Parents' Authoritarian Parenting Style and Asian American Children's Mental Health
Tiger Mom, Amy Chua, implemented a highly authoritarian parenting style in raising her children. Her harsh discipline strategy and strict method received overwhelmingly negative critics. Many media investigated Asian parents' parenting strategies and wondered the secrets of Asian children's excellent academic performance. However, little was discussed regarding Asian children's psychological needs and mental health
Studies showed the suicide rate among the Asian females was the highest. Asian American and Pacific Islanders children did suffer from generic psychological disorders or syndromes, but parents of Asian children usually suppress or neglect their children's emotional needs. It is much too late when tragedy happens for Asian children. What do you think about the Tiger Mom parenting style and its impact on Asian children's mental health? What are your concerns for Asian children's psychological needs?
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Shu-Chen Yen
Cupertino CA
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