Interesting little class and priviledge study
Class and Priviledge
From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.
Bold the true statements:
1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Just elementary school teachers.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
This one is kind of hard to tell, as I only knew a few of them outside of school. Seeing as my parents were teachers, too, it seems right.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18.
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18.
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like you are portrayed positively.
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.
Still don't have one
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs.
Only after they took out their first ever mortgage on the house to pay for it.
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
I will be paying for Grad school.
16. Went to a private high school.
No private schools to speak of in rural Nova Scotia. Besides, my parents taught in public school. It would be like blasphemy to send us anywhere else!
17. Went to summer camp
Only ones around were run by Baptist churches. We're Presbyterian. We went to day camp instead.
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18.
My parents were my private tutors.
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels.
Unless we went camping, then it was a trailer.
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18.
Frenchy's and Value Village were the stores of choice.
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them.
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child.
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house.
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home.
The house was bought, built and paid for before I turned 1.
25. You had your own room as a child.
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18.
We had a cordless, and it was usually in my room because I tlaked on it so much it would go dead.
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
We don't have that in Canada, unless we plan on going to the US for schooling.
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school.
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college.
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.
31. Went on a cruise with your family.
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.
I never even knew how much my parents made until university.
In the group exercise which was originally designed for college students, staff and faculty, everyone stands in a line and steps forward if any of these things are true for them.
If we were all in a big room, I would have taken 14 steps forward. How about you? How many would you have taken? How many steps will your kids have taken by the time they're 18 (or how many did they take before they turned 18)?
Notice that each of these are things that were given to you or provided for you rather than things you necessarily earned yourself. The exercise instructions note that just because you've taken a lot of steps doesn't mean that you haven't worked hard to get where you are. But perhaps consider the things you've had handed to you that others didn't have.
To participate in this blog game, copy and paste the above list into your blog, and bold the items that are true for you. If you don't have a blog, feel free to post your responses in the comments.
(From the blog Social Class & Quakers)
From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.
Bold the true statements:
1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Just elementary school teachers.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
This one is kind of hard to tell, as I only knew a few of them outside of school. Seeing as my parents were teachers, too, it seems right.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18.
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18.
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like you are portrayed positively.
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.
Still don't have one
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs.
Only after they took out their first ever mortgage on the house to pay for it.
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
I will be paying for Grad school.
16. Went to a private high school.
No private schools to speak of in rural Nova Scotia. Besides, my parents taught in public school. It would be like blasphemy to send us anywhere else!
17. Went to summer camp
Only ones around were run by Baptist churches. We're Presbyterian. We went to day camp instead.
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18.
My parents were my private tutors.
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels.
Unless we went camping, then it was a trailer.
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18.
Frenchy's and Value Village were the stores of choice.
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them.
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child.
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house.
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home.
The house was bought, built and paid for before I turned 1.
25. You had your own room as a child.
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18.
We had a cordless, and it was usually in my room because I tlaked on it so much it would go dead.
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
We don't have that in Canada, unless we plan on going to the US for schooling.
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school.
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college.
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.
31. Went on a cruise with your family.
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.
I never even knew how much my parents made until university.
In the group exercise which was originally designed for college students, staff and faculty, everyone stands in a line and steps forward if any of these things are true for them.
If we were all in a big room, I would have taken 14 steps forward. How about you? How many would you have taken? How many steps will your kids have taken by the time they're 18 (or how many did they take before they turned 18)?
Notice that each of these are things that were given to you or provided for you rather than things you necessarily earned yourself. The exercise instructions note that just because you've taken a lot of steps doesn't mean that you haven't worked hard to get where you are. But perhaps consider the things you've had handed to you that others didn't have.
To participate in this blog game, copy and paste the above list into your blog, and bold the items that are true for you. If you don't have a blog, feel free to post your responses in the comments.
(From the blog Social Class & Quakers)