Rich Kid, Poor Kid

[rubberwench]

Did anyone see Rich Kid Poor Kid on Channel 4 tonight? I thought it was one of the best documentaries I've seen in a while, really simple, really striking, saying a whole lot about our society and all through the words of the subjects. It was all based on the way in London really really expensive houses are often right next to council estates, and

Comments

[spiral_solution]

There is most certainly still a divide and it's getting worse. When i was at college (posh college and me on a scholarship) there was certainly snobbery from those who came from very rich families, but it was all because of how they had been brought up - once you got to know them it was mostly fine. Now it seems the gap is widening and the government ignores it because it does not see the social effects.

[rubberwench]

the government don't seem to have much interest in changing things or it would make all schools equal, or at least try instead of making them more unequal as time goes on. i think it's about education but also about who you know. there seems to be a great discrepancy in terms of experience with regards to my business anyway. for example one of our juniors went to college with a guy who's now on the news of the world, without going through the local paper route first. and he got a proper job, not shifts.

[rubberwench]

yay! well maybe it was her parents then, her mum certainly seemed a bit stuck up.

[_jojo_]

I've never really experienced predjustice that I am inferior because I went to a state school from any of the private school friends I have.

My state school careers advisor was really supportive of me wanting to be a Graphic designer too. So maybe things have changed. Or sometimes you just get a duff adviser!

I told one Form Tutor that I wanted to be a manga cartoonist and he wrote to the Japanese embassy for me and got a list of artists in Japan. How cool is that! I then wrote to one and got a reply! They were really nice and sent me some cool drawings.

[rubberwench]

yes that IS really cool. yes i think things have changed and some industries are more talent-based than others. i don't think any of the people i know who are public/private school products are snobby in any way but i think when some of them are fresh out of school they need to make an adjustment. it was certainly really obvious who was who at university i thought.

[spoox]

At my school, which was not Eton but was nevertheless a very good school, we were never told that we were better than people that didn't go to such a school; we were told that we were luckier. However, it became evident, when we met people that didn't, that, generally, we dressed better, spoke better, ate better, were fitter, knew more and had more confidence. It was certainly clear to us that there was nobody who could consider themselves better than us. I suspect that this mind-set is more a Public School one than something that applies to all private schools. I think the boarding aspect and its isolation from the community in general, helped shape this ethos.

[rubberwench]

hmmmm interesting. i guess you guys got more attention and more space to learn if you're at boarding school you're more focussed because you're not dealing with everyday life. this would mean you'd get a better education even if the standard of teaching was the same. but on the other hand all the problems associated with school, such as bullying would be that much worse because you can't go home.
and there's a difference between public and private schools? i always thought we'd just ended up with two words for some reason.

[spoox]

All Public schools are private schools but not the other way round. The majority of private schools are not Public schools. The term Public school comes from the Public Schools Acts 18**, which names a number of schools that are Public schools.