After reading the article, "Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families," I have articulated a better understanding of how class difference even within the same race can change the way children are brought up due to the fact that certain resources vary across the socioeconomic class spectrum.
One of the main points of the article was to prove that social class creates distinctive parenting styles. I strongly agree with the author, because a lot of the things she observed I encountered myself throughout my childhood, and I have viewed some of my friends encountering the same thing from their parents. For instance she highlighted the fact that middle-class parents often persuaded their children to engage in conversation by asking them follow up questions rather than just compacting ideas and orders into one word such as the mother saying to her child Harold "bathroom" and using that word to condition the child into knowing what she meant just by saying that one word. Also something I found very thought provoking would be how the working-class and poor parents seemed to be intimidated by school officials and other figures of authority. I remember when I was younger my parents rarely attended school events and or conferences with me. They would always say the teachers aren't going to tell them anything about me that they don't know already. In a way I felt like they supported me, but also gave me a lot of freedom to make my own decisions.
The author stated that since Harold was given the freedom to decide who and what he wanted to play with in his neighborhood each day gave him the opportunity to become more free willed and live a less structured life than Alexander who lived a pretty structured and organized life day to day. I feel like there are strengths and weaknesses to both end of the spectrum.
I want to transition into talking about Affirmative Action. At first I disagreed with the whole idea of affirmative action because I saw the policy as showing pity on certain races, by in a way saying that we wouldn't be able to get in without it. Then I realized that I was being naïve to the whole policy. I started to do more research on the policy and I came to the conclusion that affirmative action is indeed a positive thing. Since certain races face certain barriers and oppressions that other races don't encounter throughout their lifetime they should have a way to break from those barriers, and those barriers should be taken into account during the admissions process at universities and colleges. However after reading the article about class based affirmative action my view has swayed more in that direction. Here's a video that enhances the idea of having a class based affirmative action in our country.
http://youtu.be/v7rxscbUxyQ
I agree with changing affirmative action based on race into class based affirmative action because in order to efficiently and effectively add diversity to the universities and colleges in our country there needs to be a more broad spectrum used to enhance diversity within a campus rather than just merely basing admittance upon race.
I believe that social class has a definite impact on how parents raise their children. In society you can pretty much tell if a kid was raised in a high class family, low class family, or you can even tell if he or she was born and raised I a middle class family. You can assume this through many ways. The way they dress, talk, and even act can give indicators of which social class they were raised in. In the article Harold was allowed to make his own decisions and act more freely while alexander had more structured and organized activities. The difference is accounted for in which social class they were raised in.
ReplyDeleteI think that affirmative action should stay based on race instead of class. Race is the main reason that employers or educational institutions discriminate, not social class. You can't change race but you can change social class if you are willing and motivated enough too. This brings up the idea of social mobility that we have talking about for the last few days..
I agree with Sam on the point he made about knowing whether an individual was raised in a high class family or a low class family based on a few characteristics. I started noticing that more and more once I started college and stepped out of the community I am from. Based on an individual's manner, their behavior, personal attire, their verbal abilities, and just small characteristics provide clues to what environment one was raised.
ReplyDeleteEstavian, I could relate to you in the sense that my parents rarely attended school conferences with me. They attended a few when i was in elementary school, but my parents both were always busy with work that they rarely got to spend a few hours together or the whole family. That gave me a lot of freedom to make my own decisions, even though similar to Alex from the reading I always discussed my activities with my parents. Since my parents are not familiar with the American Educational System, I have to explain certain things to them and make my own decisions in college. They are there to support me financially and mentally to do well in my studies, but a little part of me can also relate to Harold because of the organization of my daily routines.
In reference to the affirmative action, what does it have to do with class? If it is based of off whether one is from a high class family then majority will be from there. Affirmative action should be based on race because then institutions will have to pick a select number of people from each background and not just one race. The discrimination upon race in professional areas will be minimized.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI can't deny the fact that race plays a role in institutions like schools and firms. But now most famous universities take diversity issues seriously, like U of M( just look at our class). Just like what Kahlenberg, Richard pointed out, class matters in access to college education. The reason is not only higher class students get better SAT scores, but also the admission board has preference for them. The Ivy League Universities tend to take in students whose parents are also from the universities. It is sad because higher education suppose to be the tool of pursue equality in society. But it actually enforces the current social structure.
ReplyDeleteSocial class does affect parenting styles. Children from higher class family receive critical thinking practice, social connections. I am just wondering is it always good thing for children to learn so many things and make their schedule full every day? I've seen many middle-class families raise their children like sending them to all kinds of classes, like piano class, drawing class, photography class. What if the children don't like them? Too much restrain cannot always be positive. And middle-class parents are often busy. The time they spent with children can be very limited. What's more, I don't think all middle-class children like to assert themselves in schools. Some of them are just shy or considerate. I also doubt if Alexander and Harold's cases are representative.
I agree with Sam that social mobility is possible but the one thing I would like to point out is that in some cases the chance of it happening is so low that it may as well be not possible. Just like the video we saw, as much as that lady works and trucks through each day, she is probably never going to movie up in class (by herself). Her kids are at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to getting into a school compared to a student within a middle class family (which is the main point of all the readings). As wrong as some people think affirmative action by race is wrong, it is very hard to disagree with saying affrimative action by socioeconomic class is incorrect. This is because the level of socioeconomic status you must be to receive a benefit that would be seen as devastating to a middle class student is no even feasible.
ReplyDeletebasically, what I am trying to say is I completely agree that schools should adopt the policy that was discussed in the readings. Not only because it will 'level the playing field' but also because it will encourage a much wider range of students to 'reach for the stars' or apply for schools that may have seemed out of their reach, or any school for that matter. And why wouldnt we want a more educated american population?
After reading the article by Lareau, I gained a better understanding on the effects of social class within families and on parenting style. Her findings showed that class differences were more important than racial differences. While race is equally as important, I also think we should have the class-based affirmative action policy because it is essential for colleges and universities to not differentiate students based on socioeconomic status. In Lisa Wade’s post, she mentions that low socioeconomic status valedictorian students are less likely to apply to highly selective colleges because they feel intimidated. By adopting this policy, colleges and universities are able to promote diversity not just by race but also by social class.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that schools should focus on affirmative action based on socioeconomic status, rather than race. What if there were a minority applicant who grew up in a middle-class family and had plenty of necessary resources throughout their life, such as Alexander from the Lareau article? If he were to have a lower GPA and test score than other highly qualified applicants, should he be given leniency and admittance because of his race? I would have to say no. In contrast, I do believe that some colleges and universities could go for more racial diversity, however I feel as if there aren't enough students from different socioeconomic backgrounds as well. I believe that affirmative action based on race or socioeconomic status are highly debatable in terms of effectiveness at creating a diverse student population. Perhaps a combination of both policies could help solve this issue?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your final statement. I think that college admissions needs to distance itself away from only looking at race. One of the articles in our readings talked about the Fisher v University of Texas case. After reading that article, I researched for more information on the “10 percent plan”. I think this plan is a way around using race in deciding applicants to accept. It is all based on social class because who attends what schools and where these schools are located have to do with class. However, it has a connection with race as well. We have already viewed, in class, how African Americans, Latinos, etc have already produced less income or be considered in the lower/middle class. This means that the “lower class”, i.e African Americans, Asians, “the minorities”, are mostly located in the same area and are all attending the same school. In addition, this also means that the upper class, consisting of more whites that are in the middle class or upper class, attend a harder, more intense school experience of their own. In automatically admitting the top 10% of any given school, regardless of SAT/ACT scores, you are automatically going to have the diversity of ethnicity without explicitly stating that it is due to race. But, we all know that we can’t control who goes to what school and that the minorities are usually in a lower intensity school than middle or upper class families, meaning the top 10% of the “minorities” school will have lower test scores or GPA’s than the 11-13% of the upper classes’ schools. Race and class are related to each other because we can’t control the amount of different races or the differences in social classes at every school all the time. But, because of this, we do know that there is that difference that will keep the diversity in the university present.
ReplyDeleteIn many cases, social capital is determined by one's social class. Growing up I always had the mindset that it did not matter where one was from, what really mattered was the hard work one was willing to put in to accomplish each set goal. In no way I'm saying that hard work does not get you anywhere, I am implying that having social capital makes a huge different in being successful. In the article you can clearly see the impact social capital has on each individual. You can say Alex is being adequately being prepared for college, whereas Harold is not. In the end, Alex has a better chance to succeed because of his resources. Harold on the other hand is most likely to struggle to even apply for college, and will have a harder time transitioning and adapting to higher education.
ReplyDeleteI can say that Harold would have a harder time when it comes to furthering his education because I come from a very similar predicament. Compared to people like Alex, we have to work twice as hard to make up for social capital.
After reading the article I realized how much a person's social class can impact him academically. I think affirmative action based on social class would actually increase the chances of social mobility for about of people in the lower class. Affirmative action is not always fair because an Asian girl who is from a lower class family would actually be at a disadvantage in getting admitted to colleges because of her race. On the other hand, African American students from any class (all upper, middle, and lower) would be at an advantage just because of their race. Affirmative action based on race is decreasing any chances of this girl from social mobility. In addition, most students from upper class families have an advantage of getting into Ivy league schools because of their money, access to education, connections, donations to schools, and family aluminis. If affirmative action was based on social economic class, students from lower and middle class would have a better chance of getting in and have a higher chance of mobility.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with the statement that you can tell what class somebody is from by the way the dress, speak, and act. I feel that these factors are arbitrary when considering teenagers or young adults raised in different classes and comparing them to younger children. With the way I dress, speak, and act, it would be difficult to pinpoint the social class in which I was raised. I believe that IQ plays a larger role in knowing which mannerisms are appropriate in different situations and not so much your rearing.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to offer a counterargument to the statement that higher class children experience more structure than lower or working class children. In my childhood, because my parents often could not afford a babysitter or somebody to tend to myself and the rest of my siblings, my older sister and I took on the job, which provided structure to all of us. There was a list of to-do's and at approximately what time they should be done and what time we had to have one of my siblings at an event. I don't see this as freedom in decision making, I see it as structure and it should be held at an equal level as structure from a higher class.
I definitely agree that different social class creates distinctive parenting styles, regardless of race. I’ve seen it first hand because my mother is a teacher in a lower-class school district. Additionally, I feel like she has always been super involved in all my school related functions (e.g. parent-teacher conferences, picnics, games, etc). She has also always stressed the importance of doing well in school and has even many times brought me to work with her so I could see the differences first hand.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I strongly agree that a person’s socioeconomic status can have a profound impact on the type of education they receive, and even affect their ability to get an education at all. U of M is a prime example with the cuts to financial aid they’ve made this year; I’m worried myself, and I have parents that help support me, so I can only imagine what some of my fellow classmates are going through who may not have that same advantage. With that being said, I definitely think that universities need to focus less on race and more on helping kids from lower social classes. After all, education is like the key to life these days, and can have a profound impact on opportunities for success. I mean think about it, what if the kid who has the cure for Cancer or AIDS in his head can’t help others because of his inability to get an education or get to the next level?