Child's Play (D.I. Kim Stone #11)(70)



‘But are pushy parents really so bad?’ she countered.

‘I suppose we all see our own childhoods as somewhat normal. My parents just wanted me to be happy. They didn’t raise me to be competitive. Just to do my best.’

‘I understand that and please don’t take this offensively because I’m sure you do a great job as a police officer but…’

‘But I’m never going to change the world,’ he added for her.

‘Let me put it another way. In the 1940s and ’50s there were quiz kids taking part in game shows. One of them, James D. Watson, was a joint Nobel prize winner for the discovery of the structure of DNA. But to reassure you I can confirm that not every parent is a tiger,’ she said, with a smile.

Bryant shook his head. He’d heard the term but wasn’t entirely sure what it meant.

‘It’s a largely Chinese concept and depicts strict, demanding parents who push and pressure their children to be successful. Like a stage mother. They prioritise learning above all else and only allow children to participate in activities to potentially win awards. They exert a higher level of psychological control over children and tend to use emotional threats and low-impact physical punishment. They don’t allow the child any decision-making freedom and ignore soft skills like socialisation, dealing with people, emotional intelligence, if you like.’

‘But what happens to these kids long term?’ Bryant asked. ‘Surely every childhood should be balanced,’ he insisted.

‘Studies show they lose a sense of belonging, purpose and self-esteem. In China, there’s a growing trend of children aged five to twelve seeking psychiatric help and even contemplating suicide.’

How the hell could a five-year old have such feelings? he wondered.

‘They have no coping strategies. Can’t manage negative feelings. Do you remember Shirley Temple?’ Serena asked, moving along the corridor as a child started playing the piano.

Bryant nodded. Everyone knew of the child actress.

‘Her appeal was in being a natural and that she completely enjoyed herself. No work involved and the well-constructed image that she got to enjoy a normal childhood. Except her daily regime began at seven and ended at five thirty. One critic noted something rude and rowdy about her, despite the mission of all around to keep her unspoiled.

‘She had her own three-bed bungalow on the studio lot, a daily tutor, personal bodyguard, medical advisers, a system of relaxation but not movies in case they tainted her style.’

‘Surely, you don’t think?…’

‘I’m trying to explain that pushy parents exist everywhere, officer, and always have. It’s not limited to the domain of gifted children. Your average sports day will include parents pushing their kids over the line. Parents sending drunken emails to teachers and headmasters trying to control their time at school.’

‘Isn’t there a famous book about this tiger parenting thing?’ Bryant asked, realising that’s where he’d heard the term.

‘Oh yes, Amy Chua’s shocking account of goading her two daughters to virtuoso extremes.’

‘You seem to know a great deal about this tiger parenting,’ Bryant observed.

‘Yes, both Jared and I were raised using the authoritarian method and look how well we turned out.’

Yes, quite, Bryant thought as he followed her along the hallway.





Seventy-Six





‘How many are you down to?’ Stacey asked, across the hotel dining table. She had already identified the years that their first two victims had been present, and all ten years had fallen within the timeline that Freddie Compton had been organising it. Tiff had been trying to cross-reference kids that had come into contact with all three of them.

‘There’re ninety-six,’ Tiff answered. ‘At least.’

‘Jesus,’ Stacey said.

‘Problem is, there’s no record for the children that Belinda might have spoken to because she wasn’t at the event in any professional capacity and could have had contact with the whole lot of them. Incidentally, over the ten years all three of them were present we’re talking more than three hundred kids.’

‘We need a team of ten to get through this lot,’ Stacey noted.

‘And Freddie Compton doesn’t help us because as the organiser he would have come into contact with every single one of them. So, the only record we can use to narrow them down is Barry Nixon’s record of children he counselled while he was here.’

‘But that doesn’t mean he didn’t come into contact with other kids that were here,’ Stacey said, seeing Tiff’s logic but realistically every single kid who had attended during that ten-year period was a suspect. ‘We’re gonna have to try and work through them all.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Tiff said. ‘I was hopeful about one guy who made no secret about hating this event but now works over in Akademgorodok.’

‘Come again?’

‘City of the gifted in Russia. It’s where thousands of scientists and gifted students live and work. My guy teaches at a special boarding school for maths and physics.’

‘Never heard of it,’ Stacey said.

‘Neither had I but the thought of the place just makes me shudder.’

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