No. My private school was more diverse than my kids’ 22207 public school.

I would say having a marginalized identity is the biggest factor for me, but yes, my public school exposed to me to all kinds of different people and situations. Those 2 factors have given me a lot of empathy for others.

In college, yes. I went to a state flagship out-of state and in a totally different region of the country than where I was from.

Anonymous wrote:Curious to see if people feel it did.

100%

Yes.

I agree that I think geographic diversity is more important. Which obviously for most people does not occur until college, but my eyes were definitely opened in college and grad school to all the different types of lived experiences there were, even just in different parts of the US.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think one can really know this because one doesn’t know what it would be like to grow up in a private.

That said, I went to a private school until I was in sixth grade. I entered public school at seventh grade and it was a whole other world. was definitely sheltered in private school. I can’t imagine being that sheltered until college or after.

I went to a small Catholic 3rd-12th and then a big public college. It was fine. I knew lots of different types of people from my extracurriculars, volunteering, camp, church, in-home childcare, etc. School is not the only place you encounter other people.

I grew up in a wealthy suburb that wasn’t ethnically diverse but had a lot of regional diversity. This did help me learn to get along with different people.

I think it depends if people grew up in a city or suburb...not private vs. public. Example...an inner city Catholic School is going to be much more diverse than many suburban public school.

It did make it easier for me to deal with different people. But also made it harder for me to launch my career as I wasn’t as polished as people that went to private schools. I am doing exceptionally well now but I am in my 50s.

FWIW - I went to an Ivy League school. I send my kids to private as I don’t want them to have to battle as hard as I did.

Living in different parts of the country and attending different (all public) educational institutions (K-Masters) definitely made me understand some aspects of diversity really well. I'm able to relate to people a little better because of that. But also important were that my mother and her family are very interested in the broader world. And I was a voracious reader. That generates things to talk about. I'm probably more able to work with non-US people because of this. My career involves international business as one component.

However, my kids who went to daycare are better at knowing when to shut up. And that is actually a skill. My older son is more popular than I ever was. And authority figures tend to be impressed by him. He has more EQ. There are downsides too. But I think people reading skills are improved by not being an artisanal child raised by a SAHM like I was.

Seeing people different than yourself is a norm so yes, I think so. Kids don't really care who you are or your background

No but living in a a very diverse inner city and growing up there did.

I don’t think one can really know this because one doesn’t know what it would be like to grow up in a private.

That said, I went to a private school until I was in sixth grade. I entered public school at seventh grade and it was a whole other world. was definitely sheltered in private school. I can’t imagine being that sheltered until college or after.

Curious to see if people feel it did.