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kids

Classism in Our Schools

September 26, 2018 by Andy Pope 5 Comments

Students begin to experience the effects of classism in schools as early as kindergarten, or perhaps even nursery school. Elementary school playgrounds reveal the effects of classism on a child’s education. Families living in poverty and even working-class families cannot readily afford the latest toy or gadget that might be all the rage on the […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism Tagged With: academia, blaming the victim, bullying, classism, education, kids, privilege, working class

Happy Day Before Payday!

July 9, 2018 by Kari Fisher Leave a Comment

While summer 2018 has been a scorcher, the high for February 1st and 2nd made it to 11º in Kari Fisher’s hometown in Minnesota, and single digits reigned during both school days. I got the email from one of my son’s high school teachers while I was teaching and didn’t have a chance to read it […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Classism in Everyday Life, Classism in K-12 Education, Clueless classism, Internalized classism, Poverty, Your Stories Tagged With: class cluelessness, kids, low-wage jobs, money, public school

Class Inequality in Children’s Movies

April 18, 2016 by Jessi Streib Leave a Comment

A new study, Benign Inequality: Frames of Poverty and Social Class Inequality in Children’s Movies, from Duke University sociologist Jesse Streib reveals that almost universally G-rated movies legitimate poverty and social class inequality in a new way – by presenting them as benign. Limited Learning about Other Classes What are some of the first ideas about social […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class in the Media, Class prejudice, Consumer culture, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: classism, classism in media, kids, Rationalizing privilege

Mental Health Diagnoses
Through a Classist Lens

April 1, 2016 by Glenn M 2 Comments

Many people believe that you’re born with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). As a person who has been diagnosed with ADHD myself and treated with Ritalin for years, I started doubting whether ADHD is really a biological-neurological disorder. For those who don’t know the disease, people suffering from this disorder have difficulty with memory and concentration, […]

Filed Under: Classism in K-12 Education, Health care access Tagged With: blaming the victim, bullying, classism, health care, kids, public school

A Hard Lesson about Free Money

June 18, 2015 by Christopher Page Leave a Comment

“Congratulations, you have been awarded a scholarship by your high school foundation. You are invited to attend awards night and be recognized for your achievement,” the letter said. My daughter had applied to several hundred scholarships, four through her highly-ranked, public high school’s parent & legacy foundation. She received one scholarship from a community group […]

Filed Under: Classism in K-12 Education, Philanthropy and Classism Tagged With: class cultures, kids, privilege, public school, Rationalizing privilege, speaking up, working class

Is That What They Would Say?: Home Knowledge vs. School Knowledge

February 9, 2015 by Lita Kurth Leave a Comment

Two incidents from my school years illustrate the clash between home experience and school assumptions. In second grade, I was drawing in my Alice and Jerry book, a lovely book about the foreign country of the middle class where kids got surprise playhouses for their birthdays— built, painted, and transported by Dad and Grandpa who’d […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Classism in K-12 Education Tagged With: class cultures, kids, public school, working class

The Unlevel Playing Field of High School Sports

September 8, 2014 by Eric Segal 2 Comments

I grew up thinking that even if some people were born to great privilege and others were born into much more challenging circumstances, there was one place where the contests were fair: sports. After all, everyone plays by the same rules, right? Apparently not. Every year, the Boston Globe compiles the won/loss record of all […]

Filed Under: Classism in K-12 Education Tagged With: classism, kids, public school

Summertime and the livin’ is (not always) easy

September 7, 2014 by Katy Swalwell 1 Comment

In many classrooms across the country this fall, students will be asked to respond to the age-old prompt, “What did you do on your summer vacation?” Though often used as a well-meaning way for teachers to build community and to better get to know their students, such a question can surface deep classist assumptions that […]

Filed Under: Classism among Kids, Classism in K-12 Education Tagged With: classism, kids, teachers

Humiliation at School Should Be a Thing of the Past

February 5, 2014 by Linda Stout 1 Comment

Dozens of children at a Utah elementary school had their lunch trays snatched away from them before they could take a bite last month.  Salt Lake City School District officials say the trays were taken away at Uintah Elementary School because some students had negative balances in the accounts used to pay for lunches, according […]

Filed Under: Classism in K-12 Education Tagged With: classism, kids, poverty, public school

“Bring Enough for Everyone”: What We Lose When We Lose Public Education

January 21, 2014 by Lita Kurth Leave a Comment

Did your schoolteachers say, “Don’t bring [candy, toys, coveted items] to school unless you bring enough for everyone”? Mine did. Maybe they recognized how incapable children are of understanding the fundamental injustice of wealth inequality, of some people having immensely desirable things that for some reason cannot be attained by others. Those who endured segregation […]

Filed Under: Classism in K-12 Education Tagged With: education, kids, public school

Neighborhood Class Divisions and Hope for the Future

October 24, 2013 by Pete Daly Leave a Comment

On Halloween in my neighborhood, kids come around dressed as princesses, super heroes and ghosts – nothing that would be offensive based on class, race or religion. Why not? What is different about my neighborhood is that it is a mixture of everyone. Black, white, poor, wealthy, conservative, liberal and pretty much all the religions […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Classism in Everyday Life, Owning class Tagged With: allies, Class traitors, diversity, Halloween, kids, neighborhoods

Brendan and the Magic Jeans

July 14, 2013 by Cari Gulbrandsen 2 Comments

Once upon a time there was a boy named Brendan. He went to high school. He liked to sleep in. He liked to eat pizza. Most importantly, he was nice to his mother. Even though he had a steadfast circle of friends, he longed to be friends with Calvin Klein, Kenneth Cole and Ralph Lauren. […]

Filed Under: Classism among Kids, Consumer culture Tagged With: consumerism, kids

Children and mass culture

July 11, 2013 by Pamela Haines 1 Comment

We can’t escape mass culture.  Everywhere, children and adults are bombarded: TV, movies, video, radio, books, newspapers, toys, comic books, billboards, friends and neighbors, etc., etc., etc.. Through all of these media we are pounded with messages that glorify consumerism, reinforce sexual stereotypes, and trivialize and homogenize anything if it will turn a buck. We […]

Filed Under: Classism among Kids, Classism in Everyday Life, Consumer culture Tagged With: consumerism, corporations, kids

Jesse’s Choices

June 7, 2013 by Amy Mazur Leave a Comment

My youngest son is about to graduate high school. I am feeling a mix of emotions, as I am certain many others have felt and are feeling at this time. One of the more salient emotions for me is connected to a deep curiosity I have: did I teach him what he needs to know […]

Filed Under: Classism among Kids, Classism in Everyday Life, Consumer culture Tagged With: consumerism, kids

Santa Claus, Imagination, and Class

December 20, 2012 by Lita Kurth 1 Comment

I must have been around seven, living in far northern Wisconsin—not classy Minoqua and other Chicago playgrounds, but the dregs of the timber industry, the swamps reserved for Natives, and rocky farmland left to the last immigrants, a place where the last snow might surprise you on the last day of school—when my dad sat […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Classism in the Economy, Consumer culture, Poverty Tagged With: Christmas, kids, poverty, Santa

Gifts, power and money

December 9, 2012 by Pamela Haines 1 Comment

The holidays can be hard times. With all the hopes and expectations of the season up, disappointments have more room to play. And when we most want our attention to be on loving and giving, it can easily slide toward getting, proving and comparing.  The pervasive materialism of the season, and the expectation that we […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Classism in Everyday Life, Consumer culture Tagged With: consumerism, kids

Inciting critical thinking in 8th graders: An inspiring ‘Created Equal’ story

September 27, 2012 by Veronica Quiles 1 Comment

 “The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot. And then, just possibly, hopefully, it goes on.” — Audre Lorde A deep conversation about equal opportunity was incited recently in a group of Latino 8th graders participating in a summer program in a Boston public school. I and another Class Action intern, Anna Rodriguez, […]

Filed Under: Classism in K-12 Education, Teaching about class Tagged With: American Dream, Class Action workshops, Created Equal, kids, low-wage jobs, working class

Shame, School Lunch, and Passing

August 20, 2012 by Lita Kurth 9 Comments

When I was in sixth grade, my family was eligible for free school lunches. I attended a small country school, without much class diversity, mostly farmers, some without indoor toilets in their homes. Even so, when I gave my lunch ticket to the student appointed to collect them, I noticed and she noticed that there […]

Filed Under: Class and Disability, Class cultures, Classism among Kids, Classism in Everyday Life, Classism in K-12 Education, Classism in social services, Money, Poverty Tagged With: California Schools, charity, education, entitlement programs, Helping the Poor, kids, money, poverty, public school, public services, School Lunch Program, stigma

“Is This for a Rental?”

July 13, 2012 by Lita Kurth 2 Comments

Ever gone to a hardware store to buy a toilet, sink, or door and have the salesperson ask, “Is this for yourself, or for a rental?”? We all know that if it’s for ourselves, the owners of property, we’ll be wanting something nicer, better-made, more durable, more functional and often more efficient. If it’s for […]

Filed Under: Classism, Classism in Everyday Life, Classism in social services, Classism in the Economy, Money, Politics and Class, Poverty Tagged With: anti-smoking laws, class cultures, class discrimination, Class Matters, classism, home ownership, housing laws, kids, leases, low-wage jobs, owning class, renters, renters' rights, smoking, Working Class Studies Association

Exploring Classism

April 22, 2012 by Camella Christmas 1 Comment

Just recently I attended a Class Action workshop. This was my first workshop ever dealing on the issues of classism. Heading into it, I didn’t know what to expect. I had an open mind and was willing to work with others I hadn’t met. It was definitely a big step to go outside my comfort […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Classism, Race and Class Tagged With: class cultures, classism, kids, lower-middle-class, racism, working class

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