Reply to Troubled by the Privilege: Advice?

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "Troubled by the Privilege: Advice?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]We've signed the contract to re-enroll DC in their private school for next year, which always gives us pause as to whether we should at some point, pull them out and send them to public school. This isn't to say that we aren't happy with their school, or that DC aren't happy--they are. And, we do believe that the school has plenty of positives. I am, however, afraid that DC grow up with very unrealistic grasp of their own privilege, if they don't already have a skewed perception of such. DCs are in 2nd and 4th grades, so we are at the cusp of real awareness of wealth.

As I was sitting in the carpool line this morning, looking at all the luxury vehicles, the kids dressed in Hanna Andersson and Patagonia, the fathers in their fancy suits, and the moms in their LuluLemon yoga clothes, luxury purses, and designer sunglasses, I felt particularly shaken by reality that these children are constantly, constantly surrounded by symbols of material privilege. This despite the claims of the school--and parents--regarding their to social justice. I'm sure that many, if not most, of these children return home at the end of the day to expensive, economically exclusive neighborhoods and nice SFHs. If we sent DC to our local public schools, they would certainly be exposed to more economic diversity, especially by the time they were in high school. Right now, fewer than 20% of DC's classmates are on financial aid, according to school documents; and I'm guessing that a lot of these FA recipients are the children of teachers and staff.

If you feel this way--and let's assume that DC don't have special needs that can only be met by being in private school--what do you do? Do your schools do anything more than token volunteering for Martha's Table or tutoring at under-performing schools? If you think that your children do have a really good understanding of how privileged they are, what did you do to ensure this? Did you make changes in your lifestyle (school, home, car, vacation, clothes, etc.?) to accurately reflect the values you want your children to embrace?[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics