Everyone knows about the various stereotypes and social stigmas that come with socioeconomic status whether they will choose to admit it or not. Society has come to assume that a child who comes from a family of low socioeconomic status, that they will not do as well as a child who comes from a family of a greater socioeconomic status. Unfortunately these assumptions are so ingrained in our brains that we start to follow the self-fulfilling prophecy. When a child from a noticeably low socioeconomic status walks into a classroom, it is not uncommon for the teacher to automatically assume that the child will not perform well in class, and in turn either grades the child more harshly or does not give the child as much attention as the other children from high socioeconomic status families. Do these children not perform well in class because of the self-fulfilling prophecy or is there something that happens during the critical period that causes the child to fall behind?
These assumptions are not ingrained in us when we are born, rather they are developed over our lives. When children first start preschool, they tend to pick their friends based on their physical appearance (Baydik, Berrin, Bakkaloğlu, Hatice, 2002, p. 436). It is not surprising that children from low or even middle socioeconomic environments are not able to afford the high end clothing that publicly displays their status. As much as society preaches against stereotyping, we often categorize someone the first time we meet them simply by how they are dressed. This causes children from low socioeconomic status to be friends with other children from the same class, and the same goes for middle and high socioeconomic status. This period in a child’s life is cr...
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Stull, Judith C. (2013). Family socioeconomic status, parent expectations, and a child's achievement, Research in Education. Volume 90, pages 53-67.
Mathur, Charu, Erickson, Darin J., Stigler, Melissa H., Forster, Jean L., Finnegan Jr, John R. (2013). Individual and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Effects on Adolescent Smoking: A Multilevel Cohort-Sequential Latent Growth Analysis, American Journal of Public Health. Volume 103, pages 543-548.
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Children who are deemed poor, do not receive nearly as many educational opportunities as children who are deemed rich. Kozol acknowledges that poor children barely have any social skills, which will help them in Kindergarten. In contrast, children who have been in preschool like programs since their toddler years, are more likely to develop social skills and have early-learning skills, like knowing how to hold a crayon. Children in all social classes, in the United States have to take the same standardized tests and are measured on the same grading scale. Kozol questions, “Which of these children will receive the highest scores?”(Kozol 413) Sadly, poor children will not be the ones with the highest score, and they will be held accountable for their test scores, as Kozol points out “There is something deeply hypocritical about a society that holds an eight year old inner city child “accountable” for robbing her of what they gave their own kids six or seven years earlier” (Kozol 413). It is unfair to expect a child to perform on a test equally with other children who started their education earlier. Kozol mentions that some people, who are well-educated, feel that money is not a problem with education inequality, and that other factors such as, “The values of the parents and the kids themselves must have a role in this as well-you know, housing, health conditions,
In her book, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Annette Lareau argues out that the influences of social class, as well as, race result in unequal childhoods (Lareau 1). However, one could query the inequality of childhood. To understand this, it is necessary to infer from the book and assess the manner in which race and social class tend to shape the life of a family. As the scholar demonstrates, each race and social class usually has its own unique way of child upbringing based on circumstances. To affirm this, the different examples that the scholar presents in the book could be used. Foremost, citing the case of both the White and the African American families, the scholar advances that the broader economics of racial inequality has continued to hamper the educational advancement and blocks access to high-paying jobs with regard to the Blacks as opposed to the Whites. Other researchers have affirmed this where they indicate that the rate of unemployment among the African Americans is twice that of the White Americans. Research further advances that, in contrast to the Whites, for those African Americans who are employed, there is usually a greater chance that they have been underemployed, receive lower wages, as well as, inconsistent employment. This is how the case of unequal childhood based on race comes about; children from the Black families will continue residing in poverty as opposed to those from the white families.
Allhusen, V., Belsky, J., Booth-LaForce, C., Bradley, R., Brownell, C. A., Burchinal, M., & ... Weinraub, M. (2005). Duration and Developmental Timing of Poverty and Children's Cognitive and Social Development from Birth Through Third Grade. Child Development, 76(4), 795-810. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00878.x
Gennetian, Lisa A . “One or Two Parents? Half or Step Siblings? The Effect of Family Structure on Young Children 's Achievement”. Journal of Population Economics , Vol. 18, No. 3 (Sep., 2005), pp. 415-436. Published by: Springer . Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20007969. Web. November 10, 2014
Social class, group of people who rank similarly in term of property, power, and prestige, separate people into different lifestyles and provide them with distinctive ways of looking at the world. It gives each individual 's different roles to perform and allow them onto different stages. Social class set people onto different path; it open opportunities to some, but close it from others. In the article, “Class Differences in Child-Rearing Are on the Rise” by Claire Cain Miller describes the impact of parents’ social class on raising a child. This article argues that families of different social classes supervise their child differently.
parents For example; in the article “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by
Louie, Vivian. 2001. “Parents’ Aspirations and Investment: The Role of Social Class in the Educational
Family functions as a very important social institution, and the primary agent of socialization (Snedker, 10/19/2016). To expand, parents and other family members are the first exposure to the world children have, and therefore leave a lasting impact on kids in terms of how they see themselves and the people around them. However, this impact isn’t always positive. This especially shows in the differences between upper and lower income families. For example, In Lareau’s piece Invisible Inequality, two boys in families with different SESs, are studied. On one hand, the boy in the higher SES family had less freedom and spent more time in extracurricular activities. Due to this, he acquired more cultural capital than the other boy. This boy’s mother also encouraged him to to be more assertive and confident with authority figures, so he was able to learn various life skills, such as speaking to a doctor, that the other boy wasn’t able to. The boy from the lower SES family however, spent much more time with other children and watching television. These factors play out to make the lower SES boy less confident and more confined than the other boy (Lareau,
The youngest child born in America has the highest income and level of education. These measures only measure one aspect of success but nonetheless these differences in income and levels of education do have real life implications. The table allows the reader to get a simple and cohesive look at the differences between each sibling. After reading this book I can clearly observe the factors that have led to such differences.
Ream, Robert K., and Gregory J. Palardy. "Reexamining Social Class Differences in the Availability and the Educational Utility of Parental Social Capital." American Educational Research Journal 45.2 (2008): 238-273. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
The studies conducted in the article took into consideration two different socioeconomic statuses, which included social and economic aspects. A low socioeconomic status takes measures such as percentages of poor, percentages of people with the help of public aid, unemployment rate, and ethnicity composition; whereas a high socioeconomic status takes measures in percentage of college educated residents, income, and percentage of professionals in the neighborhood (Leventhal & Brooks-Dunn, 28). A family’s characteristics also play a role in a child’s and youth’s development. For example, the parents’ level of education or their race/ethnicity are factors that will affect the development of children.
With a wide variety of studies and research, it has been shown that socioeconomic status can affect a child’s health even before they are born. This theory comes from a study by Hackman, Farah and Meaney (2010) in which researchers identified three classes of mechanism that SES effects on cognitive development. The first class that they recognized is the prenatal influences. If a low- SES mother does...
Childhood development is both a biological and psychological period that occurs to every human from birth to adolescence. The transition from dependency to autonomy characterizes this period. The crucial factors that affect this period include parental life, prenatal development and genetics among others. Childhood period is immensely significant for the child’s future health and development. Efforts in ensuring proper child development are normally seen through parents, health professional and educators who work collectively. Such efforts are essential in making sure that children grow to reach their full potential. However, it is not extremely easy to raise a child in modern times because certain factors emerge to ruin this pivotal stage in life. Poverty is a serious problem that can immensely affect childhood development (Horgan, 2007). Children are susceptible developmentally to problems in their earliest period of their life. Poverty is not a selective issue and it can affect all ages in any place, but its
When analyzing children growing up in poverty a lot of factors come into play such as their physical, psychological and emotional development. To grow up in poverty can have long term effect on a child. What should be emphasized in analyzing the effects of poverty on children is how it has caused many children around the world to suffer from physical disorders, malnutrition, and even diminishes their capacities to function in society. Poverty has played a major role in the functioning of families and the level of social and emotional competency that children are able to reach. Children in poverty stricken families are exposed to greater and emotional risks and stress level factors. They are even capable of understanding and dealing with their own emotions as well as the emotions of others. Some of the implications of poverty include educational setbacks, issues with social behaviors and hindrances in psychological and physical development. Poverty deprives children of the capabilities needed to survive, develop and prosper in society. Studies have shown that the income status of a household and even the neighborhoods in which they reside can affect the amount of readily available resources needed to sustain a healthy child. This essay will examine the psychological and physical effects of poverty on children. The psychological aspect will include a look at behavioral problems in children, depression, chronic stress, and conduct disorders such as ADHD. Poverty is known to decrease the amount of psychological and physical capabilities in children which can have long term adverse effects on their wellbeing.
Socioeconomic status can be defined in terms of family wealth and assets as well as educational background. For this reason, many comparisons can be made between socioeconomic status and education. Furthermore, academic achievement and the level of education reached by an individual, is determined by socioeconomic status. Research has shown that environmental circumstances and family issues greatly influence a child's future because the impact of the socioeconomic status depends on the level to which an individual becomes successful in life. Research also shows that family conditions can impact a child’s education and their quality of life. For example, being raised in a high-economic culture increases the chances that a child will attend