privilege survey

[cellio]

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.

Comments

[byronhaverford.livejournal.com]

My answers are surprisingly similar to Monica's: no lessons, and no private tutor, and my Bar Mitzvah money was in a mutual fund, but otherwise the same. Not bad, given that my mother came here from Calcutta on a boat.

I have an alternate use for the list: How many of these do I want /my/ children to check off 30 years from now?

The first 12 are easy yes's. But then we get to the credit card. I do not forsee getting my kids even an "emergency" credit card (Leah may have other ideas).

We've chosen /not/ to send them to private schools, but that is dependent on the impressive quality of our local public schools. "Private tutoring if needed" is another easy yes.

Joshua and Leah get all new clothes; Ian gets some hand-me-downs from his brother. I think that won't scar him too badly.

"Original art" -- Ha ha! My first thought was, "I would never want expensive artwork hung on my walls." But then I realized.....

I don't want my kids to have phones or TVs in their rooms, and a hand-me-down car will just have to suffice.

The second cruise depends mostly on how much we like the first one.

I suppose for everything else, I would want my kids to say yes.

It's a fine line between privilege and excess.

[cellio]

"Original art" -- Ha ha! My first thought was, "I would never want expensive artwork hung on my walls." But then I realized.....

Heh. Yeah, I'm afraid you have to count that one. :-)

I wonder when it'll be reasonable for "have your own computer" to replace "have your own TV". I suspect we're there or close, but I don't pay a lot of attention to typical American teenagers.