[meekaaku]

I don't get why people take it so negatively when a parent mandating kids to do/learn things they don't like.

But the entire notion of public education is rested upon mandating that kids wake up and go to school, sit down and learn things they don't necessarily like. I am pretty sure there isnt a single student who loved/found joy in all the subjects all the time.

Yet when a parent does it, there is backlash?

Humans respond to carrot and stick, and so do kids. To excel at anything, requires healthy mix of enjoyment, love, discipline and motivation. Some of these come intrinsically, others extrinsic.