Buying ‘mom quotes’ an inappropriate way to motivate kids

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

 Chinese parents are known for always putting their children's education at the very first place, but things could go off badly when education becomes a "key to fortune" for some businessmen. A hot-selling product depicting printed words from mothers to their kids who are said to study at Tsinghua University, one of the most renowned universities in the country, is a recent example. Some Chinese parents bought these "Tsinghua mom quotes" sold in photo frames or as wallpapers to motivate their children to study harder. The quotes include "I am pushing you to study so that you won't worry about the price when you order food in the future." As one netizen summed up, this is utilitarian education based on naked consumerism. These quotes, supposed to be inspirational, are not the help children need. Some people are just exploiting parents' worries as a selling point, not caring if the message is correct or not. Moreover, parents should understand that the secret of family education success cannot be bought or simply copied. Instead of blindly believing in others' experiences, they need to find motivational ways suitable for their kids.