Unequal Childhoods Class Race And Family Life Summary

The book “Unequal Childhoods Class, Race, and Family life” by Annette Lareau it talks about children’s reality and how upper class, middle class, working class, and poor families live. The working class families that she observed live in a neighborhood that can be dangerous for the children and not a desire place for the kids to be in, in the contrary the middle class families live in houses that are adequate for the children, families have access to grocery stores, and children are able to participate in activities that are not part of the school. This book is interesting because she talks about the different situations that families and children encounter. Not everyone comes from families that are able to support them or give them the attention that they need. This book shows the reality on how different social class families live under what conditions, how their school looks like, and the overall environment of the children. In

I feel that I made a connection through the families that were mention in the book because even though I lived in a neighborhood that had access to many resources and suitable for children, I was not able to do things that middle class children that were mention in this book did. What my capture my attention in this book is that middle class children learn “how to set priorities, manage an itinerary, shake hands with strangers, and work on a team. They do so at a cost, however” (pg. 39). As I was growing up my parents did not show me how to shake hands with strangers, how to set priorities, or how to manage an itinerary I had to learn that by myself without anyone telling me or giving me a recompense for doing what I am supposed to do. Lower class and working families usually don’t recompense their children for doing things that they are expected to do because the parents might not have the money to do so and is the children’s responsibility to do what they are supposed to