Another piece on entitled parents in independent schools and Sidwell by The Atlantic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an excellent article.

Maybe, but horrible writing. Painful to read. Only the conclusion is ok writing.

[Anonymous]

Yes, one of the counselors was a disaster and the other defended his hire for too long. The admissions process has changed, and Sidwell needed to up its game. They are now doing that. Not a big story. Parents who pay >40K a year for private school care about where their kids go to college, and counselors are kidding themselves if they think they can convince them not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did the article say these parents were white?

I daresay you forgot the infamous Nigerian couple and their lawsuits. Seems like it's probably a rainbow coalition of parents.

Predominately white + one Nigerian family = "rainbow coalition"?

Some real "princes."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fun article from a strong writer about a topic that's already been hashed to death. She's good enough to make it more than a just-kill-me-now topic. This should serve as a warning to the rest of us: Sidwell-type parents, in true Trumpian fashion, aren't just going to let their kids' "birthright" slip from their hands as a new generation of motivated public school kids challenge the legacy system. They want their own little Ivankas and Tiffanys and Jareds to go to Harvard, too!

The best parts, for those who won't get around to reading it:

"Earlier this month, Sidwell Friends School, bastion of the Washington, D.C., elite, was the site of a fantastical, Real Housewives of the Independent Schools cavalcade of hideous parental behavior, which apparently included a “verbal assault” on college counselors, secretly taping conversations with them, calling them from blocked phone numbers to run down other kids in the applicant pool, and trying to obtain copies of other students’ records.

At this point, we’ve reached peak private school. The shortage of spaces at elite colleges has driven these people mad, and there is nothing at all left to contain their behavior; their true motivation for sending their kids to these schools has been laid bare."

And this, although the mention of Duke is kind of off, because I don't think these folks would be satisfied with Duke, just as many here apparently think that U Michigan is not quite snobby enough for the younger Obama daughter:

"Sidwell Friends, like most Quaker schools, has been able to retain many of its faith traditions despite welcoming a diverse student body; it’s the least oppressive religion on Earth. But the silent search for the inner spark of God is not much help when rabid parents are underfoot. Quakers are pacifists, for God’s sake. Conscientious objectors. If they weren’t going to take on Adolf Hitler, they sure as hell aren’t going to take on a Kalorama mom with blood in her eyes and Duke on her mind."

The real crazy ones are the Nigerian couple who sued Sidwell because their kid "only" was accepted by Penn and not at Harvard or any of the other, almost-exclusively Ivys to which she applied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fun article from a strong writer about a topic that's already been hashed to death. She's good enough to make it more than a just-kill-me-now topic. This should serve as a warning to the rest of us: Sidwell-type parents, in true Trumpian fashion, aren't just going to let their kids' "birthright" slip from their hands as a new generation of motivated public school kids challenge the legacy system. They want their own little Ivankas and Tiffanys and Jareds to go to Harvard, too!

The best parts, for those who won't get around to reading it:

"Earlier this month, Sidwell Friends School, bastion of the Washington, D.C., elite, was the site of a fantastical, Real Housewives of the Independent Schools cavalcade of hideous parental behavior, which apparently included a “verbal assault” on college counselors, secretly taping conversations with them, calling them from blocked phone numbers to run down other kids in the applicant pool, and trying to obtain copies of other students’ records.

At this point, we’ve reached peak private school. The shortage of spaces at elite colleges has driven these people mad, and there is nothing at all left to contain their behavior; their true motivation for sending their kids to these schools has been laid bare."

And this, although the mention of Duke is kind of off, because I don't think these folks would be satisfied with Duke, just as many here apparently think that U Michigan is not quite snobby enough for the younger Obama daughter:

"Sidwell Friends, like most Quaker schools, has been able to retain many of its faith traditions despite welcoming a diverse student body; it’s the least oppressive religion on Earth. But the silent search for the inner spark of God is not much help when rabid parents are underfoot. Quakers are pacifists, for God’s sake. Conscientious objectors. If they weren’t going to take on Adolf Hitler, they sure as hell aren’t going to take on a Kalorama mom with blood in her eyes and Duke on her mind."

The real crazy ones are the Nigerian couple who sued Sidwell because their kid "only" was accepted by Penn and not at Harvard or any of the other, almost-exclusively Ivys to which she applied.

Crazy is relative. You must not know a lot of Nigerian immigrants. Education is EVERYTHING to Nigerians (specifically, the Igbo and Yoruba), and Harvard is the gold standard. There are so many students of Nigerian descent at Harvard that they have their own official student association.

[Anonymous]

That doesn't make them any less crazy or douchey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fun article from a strong writer about a topic that's already been hashed to death. She's good enough to make it more than a just-kill-me-now topic. This should serve as a warning to the rest of us: Sidwell-type parents, in true Trumpian fashion, aren't just going to let their kids' "birthright" slip from their hands as a new generation of motivated public school kids challenge the legacy system. They want their own little Ivankas and Tiffanys and Jareds to go to Harvard, too!

It's hilarious that you manage to blame this all on Trump, when Obama was the one who sent his daughters to Sidwell and (one, anyway) to Harvard.

[Anonymous]

A local schoolboy basketball star just announced he is transferring to Sidwell for his junior year from a MoCo public. He is a good player, and I wish him well, but I think Sidwell is funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who thinks this article isn't "credible" needs to take a good long look in the mirror. She hits the nail on the head.

Eh. What is she trying to say? I can't quite figure out from the article. Aggressive parents at an elite school in a high-pressure city? That's not particularly new.

I think she's saying that paying $45k in private school tuition no longer guarantees you admission to an elite college and that this is enraging rich, white private school parents and making them do insane things.

Nailed it. I thought it was clear.

[Anonymous]

The author Caitlin Flanagan used to be a college counselor at Harvard-Westlake in LA. She's been writing about this for a long time.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/09/confessions-of-a-prep-school-college-counselor/302281/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fun article from a strong writer about a topic that's already been hashed to death. She's good enough to make it more than a just-kill-me-now topic. This should serve as a warning to the rest of us: Sidwell-type parents, in true Trumpian fashion, aren't just going to let their kids' "birthright" slip from their hands as a new generation of motivated public school kids challenge the legacy system. They want their own little Ivankas and Tiffanys and Jareds to go to Harvard, too!

It's hilarious that you manage to blame this all on Trump, when Obama was the one who sent his daughters to Sidwell and (one, anyway) to Harvard.

You have reading comprehension issues. That’s not blaming it on the orange one, but pointing out that certain entitled Sidwell parents have more in common with him than they’d like to admit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who thinks this article isn't "credible" needs to take a good long look in the mirror. She hits the nail on the head.

My kids are in public school and I think it's typical Caitlin Flanagan clickbait nonsense: obviously exaggerated personal anecdotes carefully designed to appeal to pre-existing stereotypes, with little of substance. Honestly, she's been writing the same formula since the 1990s or something. I don't know why anyone would take her seriously.

Another public school parent who finds this ridiculously over the top and exaggerated. The only Sidwell parents I know are polite and laid back -- except for that one dad who during basketball games used to bellow advice to the Sidwell boys and criticism of the other team and the refs. One of our moms actually asked him to tone it down during a game, and several Sidwell parents approached her afterward and both thanked her for speaking up and apologized for the loud dad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fun article from a strong writer about a topic that's already been hashed to death. She's good enough to make it more than a just-kill-me-now topic. This should serve as a warning to the rest of us: Sidwell-type parents, in true Trumpian fashion, aren't just going to let their kids' "birthright" slip from their hands as a new generation of motivated public school kids challenge the legacy system. They want their own little Ivankas and Tiffanys and Jareds to go to Harvard, too!

It's hilarious that you manage to blame this all on Trump, when Obama was the one who sent his daughters to Sidwell and (one, anyway) to Harvard.

You have reading comprehension issues. That’s not blaming it on the orange one, but pointing out that certain entitled Sidwell parents have more in common with him than they’d like to admit.

What is the issue?

That high performing parents with a high drive expect the same from their kids and are used to badgering their way into success and for the most part, are successful for it. Hmm. Sounds like nothing new to me. I might learn a thing or two from these people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the issue?

Birthright.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who thinks this article isn't "credible" needs to take a good long look in the mirror. She hits the nail on the head.

Eh. What is she trying to say? I can't quite figure out from the article. Aggressive parents at an elite school in a high-pressure city? That's not particularly new.

I think she's saying that paying $45k in private school tuition no longer guarantees you admission to an elite college and that this is enraging rich, white private school parents and making them do insane things.

Except, it never did, and very few parents have that "expectation."