Reply to Diversity of schools - can this work both ways? Am I being unreasonable?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I truly value a diverse environment for my children. I want them to interact with and befriend people from all walks of life - economically, perspective, experience, racially and ethnically. Diversity isn't a buzzword for me - I truly see the value in it, across a variety of contexts. 
 [/quote]

Is diversity really a value to you or do your just want a pat on the back from black, brown, queer, disabled and poor folks? Upper/middle class white people are always worried about their kids being “the only one” or “uncomfortable.” If you care about diversity, then let your kid experience what it has been like to be a Black or Brown or queer, disabled, fat or low income person in North American culture since it values whiteness, thinness, heterosexuality, physical dominance and wealth. Have them take the bus to school from 30 blocks away, try to be on time  and not have anything for dinner for 3 days in a row, have them spend a week navigating the world in a wheel chair, fast for Eid, have them wait tables in an IHOP during the night shift in a working class neighborhood,  let them hold hands with their same sex friend while in a Dairy Queen in a small, rural Southern town.

It takes innate courage, grit and joy to thrive and shine in a country when you are not be born part of the dominant white, straight, Judeo-Christian,  able-bodied, middle class culture. It doesn’t matter what type of school your kid goes to- what matters is the kaleidoscope of experiences that form the fabric of their life. If their life is the MC/UMC path of school (even in a “diverse” school), pressure cooker academics, tutors, soccer/basketball/football or ballet/lacrosse/softball and college study abroad, then your kid’s worldview will be very small indeed. Good luck to your child on the journey-[/quote]

I've done like literally everything you've listed other than a wheelchair.  Not out of choice.  Out of necessity.  The dominant result of these experiences was a burning desire to shield myself and my children from anything like this ever happening to them, and insulate from hardships in a blanket of money.  Don't romanticize poverty or hardship.  Most people who are in the middle of it dream of nothing but ending it.[/quote]
Yeah, the idea that I'm going to let my child suffer because other people in the world have it tough is asinine.

I mean, if my kid's school has a bunch of non-white kids whose parents are doctors, diplomats, college professors etc., that's cool. But if it was 95%+ white, I'd be fine, too. I'm not interested in having my kids be part of some social experiment at the cost of their education. [/quote]

Wow. I can’t believe someone is still using the phrase “social experiment” in this context. It’s both ridiculously cliche and rather offensive.

Do you honestly believe that your kid will not thrive — but will instead “suffer” — unless surrounded by children of the upper echelons of society?

[/quote]

NP. PP above responded to poster who said put your kid is predicaments where they will suffer, like walking 30 blocks, going to school hungry, etc..

If you define thrive as reaching their full academic potential like we do then no they won’t.

Ask any teacher in majority low performing school with a very small minority of high performing kids.   The kids just cruise along because the teachers are all focused on helping the low performing kids.   You don’t have to look far, happens in DC schools in upper elementary.[/quote]

I don’t need to ask a teacher at some elementary school. My kid currently attends a DCPS Title 1 middle school. He is thriving there — academically, socially and athletically. And he is, in fact, being challenged. I am fully confident that he will do extremely well in life despite not being surrounded by kids from families as rich and as fortunate as we are during his brief time in middle school.

If only more upper-income families in DC had the same confidence in their own kids.

[/quote]

LOL! Your kid is either not high performing or you are living in a low expectation, low achieving bubble.

Get back to us how he does compared to his peers once he is actually in a high performing school from this middle school.[/quote]

DP. I don’t understand why you are attacking her? [b]Her kid’s scores, grades, and learning do not depend on the other students. [/b]My child is at a Title 1 school with lower than acceptable SAT scores. My kid scored very high and has excellent grades. [b]My kid is a great writer and his teacher expect him to write at a more sophisticated level than the other kids in class. [/b]Your post is insulting to PP and insulting to teachers. The more I’m on this forum, the more I regret coming here. You’re extremely rude.[/quote]

LOL to the first bolded.  You really think magnet schools for high-performing kids are based on this fairy tales that high performing kids benefit from being surrounded and challenged by OTHER high performing kids?

And just think how much better your kid would have done if he was surrounded by OTHER great writers who could write at a more sophisticated level.  Unless you're invested in the idea of your kid standing out in a sea of low performers?[/quote]

My kid is learning to deal with people from all walks of life. He’s isn’t ensconced around rich people, which gives us folks like Brett Kavanaugh. His peers in school have a wide range of ability and talent, just like life. The content of my kid’s writing will be better around diversity.

In my experience, kids surrounded by other high income and high achieving kids (esp. with pushy parents which dominates NWDC) breeds a toxic environment. Some of my kids friends at Walls are extremely toxic and I wish he would drop them.[/quote]

LOL no public school in DC "ensconces" you around rich people.  That type of wealth does not attend public schools en masse.

I think you just like the setup where your kid is the most "sophisticated" writer in class.  What do you think would happen if say 75% of his class consisted of sophisticated writers?[/quote]

You clearly spent no time around Janney. [/quote]

Take GDP of Janney and compare to GDP of Andover or, say, Sidwell, and you'll see what I mean.

UMC is not wealth.[/quote]

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