Reply to Backlash from family and friends

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "Backlash from family and friends"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have not announced that we are applying to the independent schools for our DC.  People ask.  However, the reaction we've gotten ranges from shock to anger.  Why can't your child just go to the local public school?  Why do you want to pay so much money?  Your child's friends will be snobs.  This is what we've gotten.

It's so disrespectful, we think.  Why do other parents care?  It's our choice.  We're running into people who are so pro-DCPS that they put down anyone who seeks an independent school education.  We didn't expect this especially from family and close friends.  These are not strangers.[/quote]

I'm going to step out on a limb here and guess you are AA/Black, right? Before someone jump in their feelings I say that because as an AA/Black myself I found this sentiment to be more prevalent in our community. It's beyond annoying and I can only chalk it up to that "you must think you are too good for the school the rest of us go to" mentality. Ignore it as best as possible and when your DC starts at their IS you will find a large community of other people who support your choice to spend time with. I know plenty of kids who are graduated of IS and they are far from snobs, so I definitely wouldn't worry about that. Snobbery starts at home. If you aren't a snob chances are your DC won't become one either.[/quote]

It's interesting to see that a poster would say that, for AA/Black families choosing private, there may be backlash.  We are white and now upper middle class, but both DH and I grew up very much lower middle class.  Our parents think we are "fancy pants" for sending our 2 kids to private.  They genuinely think we are forgetting our roots and being snobbish.  I wish they weren't so critical of our decision.  I think that they don't realize we are upper middle class because we live so modestly (because we are paying tuition!)  Maybe they genuinely think it's a waste of our money and that we are short on money.  DH and I pay tuition for 2 kids (albeit barely) and therefore must live very frugally.  (Luckily, because we grew up LMC, we weren't accustomed to having nice cars or a beautifully decorated home.)

I found this thread which addresses feeling guilty for sending our child to private, and I found it somewhat helpful.
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/495406.page[/quote]

The reasons you explain are the same reasons many AA/Black families (who grew up poor, LMC and even UPM) experience it. I wasn't suggesting that others who are not Black would not face it but that it's a very prevalent issue in the AA/Black community. That whole "you think you are better than the rest of us" is a real issue. [/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