"Tiger mom" parenting came under fire after media in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, released the story of a 17-year-old girl at a local sports school whose mother forced her to continue to practice sprinting despite a race injury that, her doctor warned, could lead to paralysis if aggravated.
The girl, surnamed Huang, is a high school junior enrolled in a special sports boarding school. She said her mother hoped she would be accepted into an elite university as a sought-after runner. After sustaining an injury during a race, Huang's doctor said she should stop training so intensely, otherwise she would be at risk of paralysis. Huang then told her mother she didn't want to be a student athlete any longer, causing the two to erupt into a huge fight. Huang's mother said Huang wouldn't be able to catch up with non-sports students if she gave up the pro-athlete track now.
"You can't cut your future short!" Huang's mother said, according to Huang. "If you do this, you will greatly disappoint me." During another argument, her mother reportedly said: "You only have one year left before you take [China's university entrance exam]. Keep this up for just one more year. I wouldn't cause you harm."
After a post-injury, month-long break from training, Huang returned to the sports school against her will. She said at that point running just one lap caused her entire body to ache and she feared that she would truly become paralyzed in the near future.
Since this story has come to light, Huang's mother's actions have outraged a great number of netizens who criticized her for hurting Huang out of "love." "Chinese mothers always believe that what they're doing is for the good of their children," said one commenter. "But they don’t realize that their children have the right to determine their own lives." Another netizen remarked: "This actually shows a very selfish parenting method, in which children are regarded as parents' private property."