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][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
I found this post interesting because I had this exact experience, and think it's true.  I went to a solid middle class elem public school, junior high, and a very rough high school (gang members, metal detectors, police staffing after school).  I am Caucasian, which was a minority, so much so that people yelled "Honky" at me in the halls, snapped my bra, knocked me over while running track.  (It all stopped when the cool girls overheard me telling my friend that a black guy was "hot" at a bb game; and they realized that I was indeed human.)  FF to sophomore year of HS, where I ended up on the opposite side of town in one of the top public high schools in the nation.  I was shocked and sickened by the fancy cars, the nurse leaving work to go to a wealthy student's home because he forgot his homework, and the principal who stood on stage and said that our school was "exceptionally diverse because we have students from the UK, France, Norway, Switzerland."  (My mom forwarded me an article a decade later when he was charged with making racist statements.)  I feel that my earlier experience grounded me, but I am grateful for having changed schools because it motivated me to do better.  HOWEVER, this was in the case of not having parents who were navigating my life for me.  Now that I'm living in NW DC, I strive to give my kids grounding experiences because they are living a way more privileged life than I ever did.  (Though I get that some may argue it's impossible for me to do just by virtue of living in NW DC.  I'm okay with that.)[/quote]

[b]While I agree that there is value in you early high school experience it is narrow[/b].  [b]I would not discount the diversity of other nations[/b]. A friend of ours actually explained what was going on in Egypt to us because she had first hand knowledge with family living there through the uprising. I don't think my kids or I could have really understood what was going on through news reports.

I think if you said you were sickened by the kids in the "rough" high school you would be racist but [b]you feel real comfortable saying you are sickened by kids with fancy cars[/b]. I think tolerance and understanding when you are looking in either direction is the true lesson for our kids.

I do not think it is impossible for you to give your kids a wealth or experiences because you are in NW DC - it is as important for you to do it as any other parent not matter their race or religion or socioeconomic background.

I still think it is narrow just for our white middle class kids to be [b]vaccinated or immunized (both of those term really bother me BTW)[/b] of others.

I feel having all these experiences help in life - at work I have to deal with doctors and lawyers and I think having been in upper middle class experiences has helped me with that part of my life. I try to make sure my children have all kinds of experiences and talk about how we always view others as having strengths and weaknesses and trying to be compassionate of the weaknesses and proud of their strengths.

I do not want my kids to have a narrow view of black and Hispanic kids - they are not all poor and they are not all "rough". Some are from England, Haiti, West Africa or African American. Some are rich - some are poor. Their skin color does not define them.

School can not be responsible for all our kids experiences the parents must be.
[/quote]

I think we basically agree, but to point out a couple of things.  When you are sitting in a lily white room to proclaim that it is diverse, it's a bit exaggerated for me.  If you believe the world is "flat" then I wouldn't recommend setting the bar that low.  I shouldn't have said I was sickened by all fancy cars, in fact my dh drives a luxury car.  However, I think that parents giving their children brand new luxury cars at 16, which is what happened at my school, is not teaching them the value of hard work.  Finally, I'm not the "vaccinated and immunized" poster, but it doesn't bother me as there is a fit.  Finally, I feel that my experience most definitely shaped me, there is no question I would be the same person if I'd gone all the way through at that fancy district.  But, I understand that kids will relate to the same experiences in totally different ways; and that we ultimately cannot shape our child's destiny by trying to control those experiences, which may or may not turn out the way we expect (or hope).[/quote]

I don't discount that your experiences helped shape you.

I also can't say that a upper middle class schooling will create a [b]"flat"[/b] child. I choose to let my kids learn kids of color are the same as everybody else - I am not sure where in MoCo even in Potomac that there is not diversity. I am not sure I would say a classroom of kids that are Thai, Chinese, Pakistani, South American, West African, etc are lily white. I think that there is too much emphasis on just black and hispanic being diversity.

I have yet to own a luxury car so I doubt my kids will until they buy one but I had friends that drove them that were not entitled and I had friends that drove clunkers that were self absorbed.[/quote]

No, no, this flat: [url]http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/the-world-is-flat[/url][/quote]

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