Earning His Wings

Simon Parry:

In the playground of a gated private housing estate in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, a businessman in a smart suit and winter coat stands beside a rope bridge as his four-year-old son steps gingerly across it. As the boy reaches the middle, his father suddenly shakes it violently from side to side.

Caught by surprise, the boy appears unsure whether to laugh or burst into tears. He clings grimly to the side of the rope bridge as the businessman throws back his head and laughs, shouting to his son: "Go on, go on." Other parents look on with a mixture of alarm and bemusement.

This, as you have probably gathered, is no ordinary father. He Liesheng is the self-styled "eagle dad", whose extreme tough-love approach to child-rearing made headlines worldwide when, on a winter break in New York, he forced his son, He Tide, to run nearly naked and do press-ups in the snow in temperatures of minus 13 degrees Celsius. In a bizarre 90-second video posted online, the young boy - known by his nickname Duo Duo, which means "more, more" - shivers pathetically and begs his parents in vain for a hug while standing in the snow wearing only his yellow underpants and a pair of trainers.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 2, 2012 2:49 AM
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