Geraldine Onyenweaku
Parenting in recent times has never been more challenging. Parents the world over, irrespective of their race or tribe, place or even financial power are facing huge challenges with regards to raising their children. Undoubtedly, every parent wants the best for his child or children. And these desires are universal, cutting across parents of varying economic group and strata – the poor and the super- rich alike.
As the competition among parents becomes rife, parents start comparing among themselves whose kids would perform best in school and subsequently later in life. This trend becomes more prevalent as parents, especially moms drive their kids to breaking point in order to make them get the best grades. Parents want the best possible outcome for their children, even if it means no free time to play. This new parenting style in China is termed as ‘jiwa,’ or ‘chicken blood’ parenting.
This trend in which parents make their kids work hard to get the best scores was first started in China. “Tiger mom” was the term used to describe Chinese mothers. Now the trend has changed to “jiwa,” a style in which parents make their kids work hard to get the best grades. And this trend is beginning to catch on the world over; making it seem more like competition among mothers on who will raise the best kids with the best grades; a prerequisite to getting them accepted into top colleges or universities.
In the United States of America, USA, such top universities are better known as “Ivy League” schools, meant for children of the super-rich or of the poor with exceptionally good brains.
For many parents and their children getting admission or a placement in one of these “Ivy League”, or top colleges and universities is viewed as a badge of honour.
Nigerian moms are not left out of this trend. The social media have assisted in no small measure to bringing to everyone’s awareness parenting styles trending in the world today. Even though most people will say this may have started in China, given that it first got its name “Tiger mom”, from China; some upwardly mobile Chinese moms must have copied the parenting method from the USA. “Tiger moms” are known as overly controlling mothers who do not allow their children much freedom. These set of mothers were known to engage their children in all manner of profitable after school activities such as gymnastics, dancing, piano lessons etc. One would be forced to refer to these moms as very ambitious mothers. But it won’t be tidy to lump all such “Tiger moms” as ambitious parents.
These days, especially in China, they have devised animal-based names for such ambitious parenting style ; some are called “chicken babies,” or kids with lots of after-school classes and training (that means they’ve been injected with “chicken blood” — referring to an unproven and now outlawed decades-old practice). “Frog babies” refers to kids without any remarkable talent or kids who maintain average grades even after a period of “injection.” “Cow babies” are kids with good grades and perfect performance in competitions.
In places like China, some Chinese parents want “cow babies” who are naturally gifted and study hard. Those who aren’t “cow babies” are usually classified as “chicken babies,” or jiwa — kids who aren’t necessarily naturally talented but work extra hard either on their own or because their parents make them. While others, are interested in ‘chicken-blood’ parenting.
Surely, there is a new education trend in the world today with most top universities and tech companies establishing in cities famous for being a hub of self-sacrificing and education-focused parents. For instance, children who are growing up in most expensive school- district areas that can be essentially seen as the Silicon Valley, are given a head start into the world of tech as early as possible.
Most moms believe that there’s absolutely no shame in injecting their kids with chicken blood which means putting children in after-school extracurricular and tutoring classes and pushing them to achieve high grades in school.
Parents believe that it is all about the child’s future. Some children with an exposure to this kind of parenting become overachievers very early in life. Such early achievers are allowed to explore their interests at an early age and their parents engage them through every activity that they think might help the children in future such as; raising them in a self- described jiwa lifestyle of after-school tutoring as well as a wide variety of academically focused activities.
Jiwa parenting isn’t just about what other parents are doing. It’s also about calculating the educational route that will help a child stand out in the future, like computer programming, writing competitions, and “exotic” sports like horseback riding, design and art competition.
Though not all children raised in this manner would come out with the highest grades in their class, but they will ultimately have a stellar GPA.
Undoubtedly, products of ‘jiwa’ parenting develop into a full- grown chicken.
So the question is: What can of a child are you looking to having? Chicken blooded, Frog babies or Cow babies? The one you end up with is determinant on the parenting style you choose to adopt.