Laureau Poor Kids Essay

Parents in the lower and working social class tend to believe that they can never be too involved in their children’s education. (Pew) This provides an interesting contrast because based off of another survey parents in this class are the least likely to read out loud to their children. This is likely a matter of time management. Parents in this class are often working 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet. These children spend a majority of their childhood in the care of extended family, seeing as most of these families live in poor neighborhoods and childcare is not readily available or affordable. But these parents still feel that their kids should be doing well in school, education is an important part of being able to get better jobs, and if the parents want their children to be able to socially move up in the society than they will be more likely to want to be involved in their children’s education. Based on a survey conducted it was also found that parents of this social class

Lareau, in Unequal Childhoods, focuses on socioeconomic status and how that affects outcomes in the education system and the workplace. While examining middle-class, working-class and poor families, Lareau witnessed differing logics of parenting, which could greatly determine a child’s future success. Working-class and poor families allow their children an accomplishment of natural growth, whereas middle-class parents prepare their children through concerted cultivation. The latter provides children with a sense of entitlement, as parents encourage them to negotiate and challenge those in authority. Parents almost overwhelm their children with organized activities, as we witnessed in the life of Garrett Tallinger. Due to his parents and their economic and cultural capital, Garrett was not only able to learn in an educational setting, but through differing activities, equipping him with several skills to be successful in the world. Lareau suggests these extra skills allow children to “think of themselves as special and as entitled to receive certain kinds of services from adults” (39). Adults in the school system are in favor of these skills through concerted cultivation, and Bourdieu seems to suggest that schools can often misrecognize these skills as natural talent/abilities when it’s merely cultivated through capital. This then leads to inequalities in the education system and academic attainments.

Unequal Childhoods is a book detailing an ethnographic study conducted by the author, Annette Lareau, examining the impact of how social class makes a difference in family life, more specifically in children 's lives. The key argument that Lareau makes in her study is that the socioeconomic backgrounds of individuals, especially children, will determine how children cultivate skills they will use in the future. In her groundbreaking study, Lareau utilizes a microsociological approach to examining the relationship between socioeconomic class and children’s cultivation of skills, by studying 88 different families, both middle-class and lower-class, and later conducting a more detailed and intense study of 12 families. Annette Lareau is a graduate of U.C. Santa Cruz and earned her PhD in Sociology from U.C. Berkeley. She started her career at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and previously worked as a Professor of Sociology at Temple University, Pennsylvania from 1990 to 2005 as well. She has served as a professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Annette Lareau today is a high-acclaimed sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is the Stanley I. Sheer Professor.

In a child’s upbringing, the concept of social class and race plays a pivotal role in a child’s growth and development. In the ethnographic study, “ Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life”, the author, Annette Lareau argue that the influences of children with distinct socioeconomic backgrounds can determine how a child will be raised. The author primarily focuses on two distinctive practices of child-rearing: concerted cultivation and the accomplishments of natural growth. Lareau explains that both of these distinctive patterns of childrearing have their own benefits and drawbacks, but emphasizes on how concerted cultivation and parent involvement allows children to gain a deeper understanding of the world and the ability to fluently interact with social institutions. Also, the practice of concerted cultivation allows children to develop skills that are shown to be beneficial for the future. In contrast, the practice of natural growth limits the child’s language and communication skills, in which they are not adequately prepared for the challenges of adulthood. In my opinion, I believe that the way a child is raised has a significant impact on a child’s future.

Annette Lareau is the author of Unequal Childhoods, she study African Americans and white families to understand the impact of how social class makes a difference in family life, specifically the children lives. This book talks about how the social class will determine how children will use their cultivate skills in the future. Through her research, she finds the differences in the parenting styles of twelves families, which all the kids was in the third grade. While reading the book Lareau found that middle class parents practice concerted cultivation, and working class and poor parents practice accomplishment of natural growth.

Socioeconomic status plays a key factor in the type of education a child receives today and ultimately functions to keep individuals in the class they are born into. Those who are part of the lower class receive the bare minimum in education with the end goal being blind obedience, while the upper class is educated in a way that encourages self-regulation, individual thought, and creativity. These vast differences in education are no mistake and are put in place for overall control.

So, when most individuals do not have access to resources in society in order to achieve necessary progress and therefore leads to greater social mobility. These individuals are most likely going to face some social injustices because they are below or on the poverty line. Because of the group's social position in society, it has led to several social injustices that include awareness-raising, improving access to medical care, education for children, employment opportunities and acceptable safe housing for families. Poverty is a social injustice because of economic policies it favors one class moreover another class. Social context known as the physical setting of which people were raised often is the building block of a moral society and are the reasons why poor people stay poor. In the book, there were a few stereotypes that were addressed to the population in poverty or the unprivileged. It was often seen that the families that had fallen into these types of situations were usually sing persons and one parent families, so because of their only being one potential wage earning it is not enough for a living (Rank, Mark 2005). Another stereotype is that the chances of an individual that failed to receive a high school diploma will be disadvantaged and will experience poverty during their lifetime than individuals with college degrees who were raised by wealthy parents (book). Along with education, many assume that poor people do not value education, while it is true the parents may not be involved in school activities it is because they are working to provide for their family. Poor people in the United States are often stereotyped in innumerable ways that impact those living in poverty and education falls along with the

All Americans are at risk of developing obesity, with an obesity rate of 36.5% of the population (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). The increase of obesity in the United States has led to the development of other costly comorbidities, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and even some types of cancer, and therefore should be avoided at all costs (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Although all groups are at risk for obesity, vulnerable populations such as low-income children, face

By making sure their children have these experiences, middle-class parents engage in a process of concerted cultivation” (2). By cultivating their children, parents instill a sense of entitlement within their kids. It is because of this entitlement that they feel they can argue for what they want from teachers and administrators, showing their dominance within the school system. In lower class families, many of the parents take on the parenting style of accomplishment of natural growth. Their main goal is keeping their children safe, enforcing discipline and regulating their children’s behavior in specific areas when necessary.

The book Unequal Childhoods explains a study conducted to prove the significance of social class. Annette Lareau presents the study highlighting two primary ways of parenting that ultimately affect how successful the child becomes as they transition into adulthood. These styles of parenting include Concerted Cultivation which is where parents put through kids through structured activities, and Accomplishment of Natural Growth which is emphasized through freedom and directives. While both styles of parenting have their benefits and their weaknesses, the educational system of the United States is built predominantly on Concerted Cultivation and middle class values, which in turn may negatively affect how children prepare for their transitions into adulthood. This imbalance in education can put students farther ahead and at the same time neglect children who don’t have the resources they need to keep up with the other students. There are a multitude of variables involved with helping students reach their full potential and become successful. Some of the big factors to a student’s success include the student 's socioeconomic background, how they “fit” into the educational system, how strong their relationships are with other people, and their ability to access resources. Creating an education that can accommodate students from all different backgrounds will empower students to reach their full potential.

In the article, “Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life”, Lareau discusses on how social status serve as a factor

Concerted cultivation versus achievement of natural growth are the two topical themes of Annette Lareau’s book unequal childhood. The ethnographic study she conducted with the eleven families reveals how the social structures can shape the cultural capital of the kids. The variation in the patterns of rearing in middle class families compared with that of the working class and poor families is directly echoed on the future perspective and potentials. The domains of interaction in the environments in which the kids acquire their knowledge and skills are determined by certain trajectories. The physical activities differ drastically between the social classes, where it tend to be highly organized, carefully chosen, and timely managed for the middle class families. As for the working and poor families’ kids, time and sports activities are poorly directed, randomly selected, and often less productive. There is also a variation in ways of communication and the type of language used across the families. Garret Tallinger

The children raised in middle class families are better fitted to thrive in society because of all the opportunities they were handed growing up. Because children of lower class were pushed to the side and disregarded they missed out on (opportunities) that increase their likelihood of excelling in life. Anette Laurel, a sociologist, utilizes anaphora to stress the skills acquired of being raised in a middle-class family “She learns teamwork…, she is taught how to interact comfortably with adults” by using this structure Laurel asserts that middle-class children are better prepared for the modern world (Gladwell, Malcom 104). The repetition of “concerted cultivation” (defines middle class parenting style in which the children are guided through

A family’s class background can have a huge effect on child-rearing. The way a family raises a child can be dependent on the class background that they have. Often families with a substantial amount of money are able to provide their children with more opportunities than families with lower income. This can have a tremendous effect on how the child is raised and how much help/support a child can get from their families to become successful and educated. Families with different financial backgrounds tend to raise their children differently and have different values in regards to schooling. In Annette Lareau’s book “Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life” she discusses the impact that economical class and family upbringings can have on a child and society. Throughout this analysis I will discuss the different approaches Lareau mentions, which approach prepares children for more effective school success, and the implications of these discoveries for teachers and schools.

All families want their children to be happy, healthy, and grow. Social classes make a difference in how parents go about meeting this goal. In Annette Lareau book, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, she promotes middle class parents as concerted cultivation. Middle class parents encourage their children’s talents, opinions, and skills. For example, engaging their children in organized activities and closely monitoring children’s experiences in school. According to Lareau, middle class children gain an emerging sense of entitlement through this pattern of converted cultivation. This causes a focus on children’s individual development. There are signs that the middle class children gain advantages from the experience of concerted cultivation. However, the working class and poor children do not gain this advantage.