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Effect of Social Inequality on Child Development Essay

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As kids, the question is always asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Depending on the interest of their parents, the children’s answers vary greatly. If they come from a family of lawyers, the child would most likely say they would want to be a lawyer. If they come from a family where no one has graduated from high school, the child would most likely say that they would want to be a truck driver. The background and the status of the parents would determine the aspirations of children’s future. Social stratification determines a child’s outlook on their future career and education. A study done by Jay MacLeod explored the ambitions of a group of young boys. MacLeod explains that society proclaims that any child can grow up to …show more content…

The inequality starts in the school, but continues because of the school. Turner claims that the there is two different mobility systems in the school; sponsored and contest. Sponsored is similar to ascribed status, while contest is similar to achieved status. Referring back to the children’s goals and ambitions, a sponsored system would help them realize the possibility of their goals earlier in life than the contest system would. In the case of the sponsored system, the child would be ripped away from their family in order to achieve their goals if the child was viewed as something greater than their family. This would be like a child going to a special boarding school. This child is selected very early one. In a contest system, the child’s goal is left up to them if they would be able to achieve their goals. They are in control of their achievements, not the superiority. Being involved in the sponsored mobility system sometimes requires a lot of power and wealth. “Very frequently the striving for power is also conditioned by the social ‘honor’ it entails” (Weber). The child could possibly get ahead by just fighting to reach his goals and gaining that honor title. In addition to power, wealth is very essential as well. “Wealth can be used as collateral to secure loans for futher investment; many of the wealthiest people leverage their

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