Reply to spin-off! What is so awful about attending school with exclusively upper middle class kids?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Great question OP. As someone who came to the US as an adult, this desire to go out of one's way to surround one's kids with those who are less fortunate is the most puzzling thing about this board.

I want my kids to grow into high functioning empowered adults. The best way to attempt this is to surround them with smart, hardworking kids from well-functioning families and get them used to interacting and competing with them, both in academics and on the sports field. Sure, it will be  important for them to learn that the world is full of all kinds of people, but that they will learn from travel and interacting with friends from different activities and camps. If I can give them successful role models, why should I go out of my way to show them "average."  They can find that anywhere.[/quote]

You're equating "smart, hardworking" with kids whose families are wealthy enough to afford $35K (or $70K for two kids) per year for education.  And you're equating "well-functioning families" with parents who chose law school instead of government or not-for-profits.  So essentially, you're associating all these desirable characteristics with the upper class, because for much of the middle class, private school is out of reach. I'll try to give you the benefit of the doubt, because your came to this country as an adult, but it's hard to think you understand US social classes, and it's even tempting to suspect classist yourself, and/or you're trying to limit your kid's exposure to "regular" US kids.

I agree with the poster who said that upper class kids often work less hard -- unless they happen to be in an elite private, and specifically if they entered that elite private in the upper grades when they were judged on their achievements and grades.

There are lots of well-functioning families where the parents didn't choose to enter law, and their hard-working, well-functioning kids are generally in public.  And believe it or not, some of the hardest-working kids come from immigrant families with obviously lower SES than yours.

[b]FWIW, sending your kid to summer camps won't expose him to a different SES, unless you choose one of those karate camps with signs on the street corners[/b].[/quote]

That's not quite accurate.  If you have a DC that is into competitive sports, many of those camps, particularly in certain sports, are very diverse.  My DS started attending some of those last summer, and let me tell you, it was eye-opening for him.  Literally. He was bug-eyed on Day 1 when I dropped him off--gone were the parents he used to seeing at drop off (mostly).  By drop off the 2nd day, he was running to catch up with his new friends....[/quote]

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