Lastly, permissive parenting is one that has no boundaries and is beyond nonrestrictive. Her work strengthens the points made by Chua. According to Chua, Eastern parents take on the authoritarian parenting style while Westerners take on one that is authoritative. The children of authoritarian parents have more self-discipline and focus, also they tend to do better in school. However, they lack in creativity, individuality, and leadership. This is stated by Chua when she explains why Asian countries are looking to the West to find ways to encourage these three elements that they lack in so that they can produce more well-rounded children. However, it is easier to do than teach a teenager how to concentrate. As stated by Chua, "self-discipline and focus are skills that have to be instilled when children and young, but this can be impossible when children are bombarded with all kinds of easy access to media and electronics. Yes parenting style plays a role but there are other factors affecting the decline in American education.".
According to Chua, the average American child spends 66% more time watching television than attending school. Which means that if the average school day is 7 hours 5 days a week, coming to 35 hours in school, the average child would have to be spending more than 35 hours watching television. However a study conducted by The University of Michigan Health System, children from 6-11 years of age spend 28 hours a week watching television. Even though Chua may have exaggerated the percentage, those are still alarming numbers that children spend close the same amount of time in school as they do watching television. Either way it is playing a role in the decline of education in America. The truth is in the numbers. According to the Washington Post, 29 countries scored better than the United States in math, 22 countries scored better in science, and lastly 19 countries scored better in reading.