High And Low Education Divides People From Their Family Essay

Andrew Simmons published his article for The Atlantic, “The Danger of Telling Poor Kids that College is the Key to Social Mobility” on January 16, 2014, which raises his concerns that higher education is only being promoted as an opportunity to increase their economic status, when it should be an opportunity to experience an education (Simmons). Through the use of students such as Isabella, Simmons disagrees with the way students now look at higher education and blames the educators through the students’ lives for this view. Instead, Simmons views education as an intellectual opportunity rather than a way to elevate ones economic class which is all people see when they see “higher education.” He believes that education, ambition and work ethic is how you have a satisfying life, not with how much you make. He makes the point that when economics becomes the main goal of education it’s all children begin to think about and they might not pursue something that they are truly passionate about or what they want to learn about, which then does not create an intellectually awakening experience (Simmons).

Getting an education is extremely important in my family because it signifies hard work. No one in my immediate family has attended college yet and I would like to be the one that ends this cycle and graduates college. College is also important in my family because they believe that this will ensure that I will have a stable future and this is crucial to me.

We are told to “go to college” by family, media, and teachers, but we are never given an explanation on why it’s important for us to get a higher education. The importance of higher education is so we can obtain a career that can support our needs and wants. It’s also important because it gives you an advantage when trying to get a job. Employers require a higher form of education, which is necessary for our society to advance. There aren’t many jobs that accept people with a high school diploma as their highest form of education. Employers want people that know what they’re doing, and so does our society. In order for people to go into the career field they want, they need to go to college to learn everything that comes with that career.

Another problem with American society is how hard it is for poor individuals to find success because “the rich are richer and the poor are poorer,” (Goode 88). The top 1% in America hold most of the money, leaving very little for those who are considered poor. This then becomes a never-ending cycle because middle and upper class kids attend very good schools and receive educations that will allow them to find success in life, and those kids who are in working and lower classes, go to over-crowded schools with very little resources. This makes it very difficult for these kids to take their educations further and go to college. I personally struggled with the transition from high school to college due to the education I received. I went to a Denver Public School which has a reputation of being “trashy” or “ghetto”. Luckily, as a whole Colorado has a good education system, but I know I wasn’t challenged enough in high

Achieving a college degree is worth the time and effort as well as the financial struggle because there is more to be gained besides context knowledge. College is something that has dropped in importance as less and less people attend every year. These students are unsure as to whether it is worth it.Parents push their kids towards college and some even tell them not to go because of financial problems. This pressure students to make a life changing decision. This is all things that may keep a student from a secondary education that could kick-start a new and better life.

Education has always been highly valued by my family but opportunities for academic achievement were not always available to every member of my immediate family. My mother was the first one in her family to go to college and get advanced degrees. My father did not pursue anything further than high school. I keep these circumstances in mind as I further my learning and strive for a better education through hard work. In doing so, I can help pave paths for future generations of students in my family. Opportunities at NCSSM and other outside sources will push me even more to gain as much knowledge as possible; ultimately leading to a higher educational career. Additionally, I have completed a majority of my education with the aid of my mother

To begin, my immediate family is well-educated, meaning that both of my parents received a primary education, but also went on to study and graduate from universities. I believe this factor allowed me to succeed in coming to ISU, because my parents were able to recognize the significance of their higher education and how it correlated with their careers and current lifestyle. These factors contributed to my parents instilling in me the need to receive a college education in order to have more access to future opportunities.

“In the United States today, there is no more certain investment than a college education”(Carnevale and Melton). Education has always been a major component of American society. One can only go so far without an education, and the more education and knowledge someone has, the better their chances of being successful. Some people believe a high school education is enough, and it is, enough to land a job at a fast food restaurant. I speculate they feel this way because they feel school is not for them, or maybe they just do not want to go far in life. To get far in life people must go above and beyond, and learn things that others do not know to make them

With the growing importance of higher education, more people than ever are attending college. According to a middle-class parent, “[Higher education] seen as a means of developing a career and getting secure employment.” (30, Higher Education, social class and social mobility) Moreover, “parents believe that their children need a university education to get on in life… over the past decades (parents) fearful that without a degree their children will be in danger of downward social mobility. (32, Higher

Furthermore, achieving higher education and attending college sometimes just cannot happen. Simply put, not everyone can and or should attend college. Think about it like this, if everyone had college degrees, people would feel entitled to good paying jobs.

This same topic was both supported and echoed in an article by Nunez and Crisp. The data set provided by Nunez and Crisps elucidates that 41% of Mexican Americans and 42% of Puerto Ricans shared that family reasons affected their choice in pursuing higher education (Nunez & Crisp, 2012). When further investigated that data went on to conclude that “family reasons” specifically meant that the family had in some way held the student back from achieving the higher education. Particular instances identified were that the students were being advised against attending a four-year institution due to distance from the family home or lack of familiarity with the four-year college model. However, not all research is consistent in supporting the idea of family influence serving in a negative role. On the contrary Kristin Calaff’s article states that, “Many first generation Latino parents encourage their children with stories of a successful relative, either real or invented, to help solidify the importance of higher education” (Calaff, 2008). Calaff’s research goes on to explore that intense determination instilled in these students from the parents to provide and encourage for a future and life better then their own (Calaff, 2008). Calaff’s evidence that Latino parents want more opportunities for their children really coincides with Auerbach’s reasoning on why it is vital that parents are aware of

“Kids who are the first in their families to brave the world of higher education come on campus with little academic know-how and are much more likely than their peers to drop out before graduation” (1). Many people believe that school isn’t for everyone, and whoever goes is privileged for doing so. Countless people in the world today do not attend college, and this is mainly due to an influence of those in their family. Perhaps they are unsupportive of higher education, their parents and family members may view their entry into college as a break in the family system rather than a continuation of their schooling and higher learning. Most of the first-generation students decide to apply to colleges, because they aspire to jobs which require degrees. However, unlike some students whose parents have earned a degree, they often seek out college to bring honor to their families, and to ensure they make a decent amount of money for their future.

Students from all over the United States are told all through their life that they need to attend college if they ever want to be successful, however, this is far from the truth. Often schools are culprits for driving students to attend money driven colleges, in other cases it is family. While schools all too often make the push on students to continue their schooling, parents can cause the same situation, as they may not have a degree and be working a low-paying factory job. Now kids already don’t want to be like their parents when they get older, so seeing them suffer in poverty or barely above the poverty line can cause some dissatisfaction, further seeking a degree to live a life that they never got. What many

The path to success has been remodeled over the years by different generations due to the developing mind. College does educate and challenges people to do more and think more. We can clearly see this example because the developers of this debate are both college graduates. Later on in life more and more questions will be asked and answered. College has an importance that is so popular but that importance has a value. The developing world and society will always view college as something necessary no matter what because is has proved to be a path and a escape to a better life. People that have specific circumstances and cannot pursue college have often been denied of a huge opportunity that can be life changing to almost everyone. No one can judge intelligence based on economical stability or tests, but what the educational system seems to be judging intelligence on is the bank account of the projected student. There is a saying that says "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." But as technology is constantly advancing and computers are running almost anything, is a college education really necessary? There are people whom have never set foot in a college and are doing better than people who have their master's degree. There are views from both sides that contain a valid argument.

Throughout the history of civilization, education has been an important tool in shaping an individual as well as the society that the individual is a part of. In the older civilizations, only the elite upper class had access to education. This kept these people at the top of the social ladder, and suppressed the common people who did not have access to the same education as the nobles. We have come a long way since then, with every child having access to a free high school degree. However, there is still some inequality in this modern education system that has similarities to the old injustices. In this day and age, a college degree is a great start for a young adult starting to enter the work force. According to a study conducted by Pew