cellio | privilege survey

There's this survey/meme going around, apparently started here, that tries to assess the level of privilege one had as a child. I think some of the questions miss the mark a little bit, but I still found it an interesting survey.

Bold means the statement is true, italic means I don't know or it's complicated:

Father went to college (first in his family to do so)
Father finished college (bachelor's degree)
Mother went to college (through the grace of her mother's second husband, who showed up when mom was a teenager)
Mother finished college (associate's degree)
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers (how would I know? and why would "same as" be a sign of privilege?)
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home (I read 100-150 library books a year, but we didn't actually own more than a couple hundred books, I think)
Were read children's books by a parent (this is probably why I knew how to read before entering kindergarten)
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (piano, for six years)
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively (probably a mixed lot here, but mostly I don't really know what is meant by "like me")
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs (plus scholarships, loans, my savings (birthday money, summer jobs), and work-study)
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18 (there was this person from the Blind Association who spent one class session a week with me during school; this was provided by the school or the government, I think on the theory that remedial work would be needed, but it wasn't so we used it to do much age-advanced stuff instead, which I guess they do these days in gifted programs)
Family vacations involved staying at hotels (mostly relatives' homes, occasionally a motel)
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 (it was K-Mart-grade, but it was new)
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them (I think this item could have reasonably ended after the first six words)
There was original art in your house when you were a child
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home (well, there was a mortgage...)
You had your own room as a child (mostly; my sister and I shared for a few years)
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College (what?!)
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (three flights total: one to move across the country at the age of three, and one family trip to visit the relatives on the other side of the country when I was a teenager)
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family (I'm surprised that this is here but questions about designer clothes aren't...)
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up (museums and anything science-related, like the planetarium; I don't remember art galleries)
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family (unaware of the specific numbers, but aware that we were trying to conserve)

My parents did remarkably well for themselves (and for us kids). We weren't rich, but we were never hungry. My parents were (and are) frugal, not needy. Dad's parents were immigrants who were resourceful but not educated; for most of my mom's childhood her mother was a single parent working a blue-collar job to support them. Out of all that they managed to go to college, lay the foundation for a better life, and provide for their kids. I don't need to have owned a car or gone on cruises to feel lucky.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We owned children's books (for the early years) and important references like a good dictionary and encyclopedia. And once those "cheap books for school students" programs hit our schools I bought some that way. There were other books around, but mostly we borrowed from the library. It probably would have been an expensive proposition to keep up with my appetite otherwise. :-)

Ah, small monitors for early computers... I remember the days. (I didn't own an early computer; in fact, my first actual computer, as opposed to terminal + modem, was a 486. I made liberal use of the mainframes and Vaxen at my university, maintaining Vax accounts for years afterwards. That gave me email, Usenet, and a programming environment, so that was good enough. :-) )

privilege survey

no subject