Key takeaways and thoughts

Social class has always been something that interested me personally. Really how it
affects and shapes our society. After the social class exercise I feel as if there is really no fairness
to anything in this world. There will always be bias from either end. Something that I took away
this week was how social class can influence people’s behaviors and identities. If the examples
from the exercise were female I don’t think I would have done much differently. I hadn’t looked
at it harshly based on gender; I was more looking at the idea of social class. But I will say that
just like social class, gender affects the opportunities that people can get, and the type of lives
they live. It has always been apparent that there is a gap between male and female.
My Personal Experience
My family has gone up and down in social class. For the majority of my life however I
feel as if I identify with the middle class. Not necessarily rich by any means but I have a roof
over my head and food on the table without worry. However, at a young age my parents have
had money struggles as many people do and it wasn’t as simple to cover all of the necessary
needs. Money was spent strictly on necessity and there wasn’t room for vacations, eating out,
shopping etc. Which still left me feeling well taken care of and appreciative of all my parents
have done for me. When I was in school I remember feeling like I could point out who was in a
higher class. By the things they wore or what they posted on socials. I knew there were groups of
friends who all were well off because of their families. I felt on the outside of those groups
partially because of the class they were in. When it was time for college I knew I wouldn’t be
able to attend an expensive school. People around me were applying for some pretty expensive
colleges. This caused me to feel a little frustration. I was happy and am happy with the path that I
am on, and I did that for myself. But these kids didn’t have to think about money, they simply
got to pick where they wanted to go because of their parents.
Experience Playing Spent

I have played spent before a long time ago. I am glad I had the opportunity to revisit it. I
was really determined to make it to the end with money still in my account. It took me three tries
to get there. As I was going through each run I really felt a pit form in my stomach. I became
very aware that these are real issues and scenarios some families and individuals have to face. It
is sad that some parents may give up watching their kid doing something they enjoy to make
some extra money. Or in a case that was in the game, a kid breaking your window, it is easier to
simply pay the fee to fix it then fight for the kid to be held responsible. It’s like you have to
accept the bad end of the stick so you don’t end up with a potentially more costly situation. Or
having to choose that your child doesn’t participate in things that other kids are able to afford.
This I think is what really shows the divide between social classes. Kids may not be able to join
extracurriculars, so they have less experience trying new things and forming relationships. This
is also something that colleges look for which may hinder their chances at getting accepted into
certain colleges. And for a parent, they have to give up some personal care and time to
themselves to either take care of their children or they have to work. There is a lot that is
sacrificed just to keep living and even then people may just barely be getting by. With that it is
so disheartening to know. For me personally I really try to make sure I am living a life I enjoy
and make sure I feel fulfilled because otherwise what is the point? Some people don’t even have
the choice to live differently because they simply can’t.

Readings and Discussion

This week I read about the work that GameLab was doing. They are working on
innovative games that integrate curriculum in an engaging way for kids. I love this because just
like playing spent, it is a way to gain some insight for something that you may not personally
experience. It helps educate kids at a younger age. Bobbie Harro starts of one of his readings
with this, “ Often when people begin to study the phenomenon of oppression, they start with
recognizing that human being are different from each other in many ways based upon gender,
ethnicity, skin color, first language, age, ability status, religion, sexual orientation, and economic
class. The obvious first leap that people make is the assumption that if we just began to
appreciate differences and treat each other with respect, then everything would be all right and
there would be no oppression. This view is represented beautifully by the now famous quote
from Rodney King in response to the riots following his beatingand the release of the police
officers who were filmed beating him: ‘Why can’t we all just get along?’ It should be that
simple, but it isn’t” (Harro, pg 2). I believe that education can help us end oppression. However
oppression comes from personal beliefs and actions. Not everyone is accepting or caring of
others and that will never change. But what we can do is try and raise our kids and the younger
generation to help the movement of change. There is not always a safe space for families and
children. That is something else that I know is trying to be helped but not everyone is reached.
Deborah Megirvan wrote, The neighborhood in which we were being raised was dangerous and
dilapidated. Indeed; the rampant negative influences likely contributed significantly to the fact
that three of my younger siblings were mandated to services within the juvenile justice system,
and two of them became drug dependent. Eventually, one of my brothers committed suicide. I
will always be convinced that poverty and our childhood circumstances played the largest role in
his death” ( Megirvan, pg 18). If Deborah and her family had been able to live within a different
community maybe her brother would still be alive. Her and many other families have faced these
challenges that poverty brings. While we can choose what kind of person we want to be and how
we react to things we can’t control others. Being in communities like Megirvan grew up in gave
her and her brothers a negative environment to be surrounded by. From these two readings I felt I
became more aware of my privilege. It also brought on a lot of awareness for what other people
may be struggling with or going through. Americans are of two minds when it comes to
explaining how people make it into the middle class. An enormously popular belief is that
achievement is the result of individual effort; that in a meritocracy, the most successful among us
get ahead
because they have worked harder than anyone else. In a recent Pew study, 43% of respondents
agreed that the most economically successful people advance through ‘hard work, ambition, or
education’. But a larger percentage of the sample (46%) is skeptical of the meritocratic
explanation. Instead, they believe that successful people make it to the top because they gained
access to special resources that are not available to the average person (Morin 2012, Lacy 2015).
What Lacy made me think of is how social class can influence what jobs people are able to get.
While being in a lower income household, people are at a disadvantage for moving up in the
workforce and making more money. Say someone can’t afford a car and so they can’t work far
away from home or afford a long commute, this makes the work options much smaller. It is easy
to see how people in poverty stay in poverty. The disadvantage is apparent. It can also mean that
they can’t afford college education and therefore can’t get a higher paying job that requires a
certain level of education beyond highschool.

Conclusion

I have gained some significant insight from this week's readings and activities. I still have
more I could learn about social class and its control over people’s lives. Really what I took away
from this week is how lucky I am personally and how I am grateful for the opportunities I have
received. I feel motivated to help those who are not as fortunate. I think there is a way for us to
move towards everyone simply helping one another, although I see that far far into the future.
There are still many opportunities to educate myself and others to help make good changes
happen.

Works Cited
Harro, B. (2010). Defining Cycle of Socialization, Readings for Diversity and Social
Justice.
Megivern, D. (2005). Supposed To Know Better - Accepting Privilege, Explorations in
Privilege, Oppression, and Diversity
 Lacy, K. (2015). Race, privilege and the growing class divide. Ethnic and Racial Studies,
38:8, 1246-1249