Why are the mc & mc children more outdoorsy & sporty?

[Spaghettisavesmysoul]

Following on from the umc lifestyle thread, I noticed many posts saying they were much more outdoorsy & sporty. Skiing is nearly a pre requisite & a silent class marker! The mc kids we know can all swim very, very well, cycling loads, hike, ski, play hockey, tennis & rugby.
Why is this? Is it from the schools they attend, parental aspirations or interests? The wc class kids I know (mine included) are not that way inclined whatsoever, outdoors consists more of freeplay as opposed to sports & my boys enjoy unstructured footie with their pals...

The local private school has separate hockey, football and rugby pitches (all floodlit) and they aren't even using a lot of what they own!... my DDs Comprehensive has a lot of land for a state school, but the pitches are multi use for space reasons Private scho also has a pool.

Knowledge comes into it too. We have several free sport schemes locally (including a completely free Rugby club including kit and boots). But you wouldn't know unless you were looking at all the rugby clubs in the area for fees... so it would be easy to dismiss as expensive if you didn't know.

I grew up in a very working class environment and my experience is that in wc communities sport = football. It’s by far the world’s most popular sport for a reason : The cost of participation is minimal and the barriers to entry are very low. The same can be said for basketball in multicultural communities, of course.

Stereotypically middle class sports, eg tennis, rugby, cricket, golf require access to specific facilities, expensive equipment, specialist coaching for safety reasons, or a combination of all of these. Horse riding, skiing, sailing etc cost a fortune.

Exactly. When I lived in a city centre, I rarely just went for a walk from my front door. I walked to places, but walking for leisure didn't appeal.

Now I have hills and countryside on my doorstep, I often do so.

Yes it is a factor, but it’s definitely what we prioritise. We don’t have a big house, go out (other than picnics up hills). DD gets PIP, so that is used for enrichment for her. I have three jobs. Our skiing holidays cost £1500 for all of us because we drive, and stay in a small apartment.

It was necessary because of the ADHD to give them structured activities.

I do understand that it’s still out of the reach of many though.

KweenieBeanz · Today 11:40

“it becomes even harder to participate in this stuff because when do you do it, the weekend is often the only downtime, and homework needs to be completed because you couldn't do it in the week because, work + after school club.”

Children can be living at almost abusive levels of activity. Children at academic schools who are also doing sport/music seriously might have days that start very early in the morning and finish late at night with maybe 3 or 4 hrs of homework at night and more at weekends by the sixth form.

Oh christ.... this old chestnut. "We prioritise..."

Most people aren't choosing a big house over sport. Because most people can't afford a big house even if they don't pay for skiing.

The sports you listed are expensive and skiing and snowshoeing require travel to the areas where they can be done. That's totally out of reach for many people, regardless of what they "prioritise".

Your original post was tone deaf because it failed to acknowledge the barriers to entry. Your follow up is worse.

Agree with @MotherWol
Historically, the MC equated acts or participation in life to be directed towards God. Thus being outside and at one with nature was a form of praise in itself. The MC were often trying to show the wC how a life of service should occur (parenting skills, exploring the great outdoors etc). That the human body (¥) was* performing a spiritual act of worship when participating in sport was a way of showing this.*

In the bible a good complexion is referred to as 'ruddy' (e.g. David as a shepherd boy after being called in from tending to his father's sheep, etc). And today we still refer to the idea that a child has ruddy cheeks as being positive.

But also, in modern culture, there is a plethora of sports, and a manic fascination of football. Kibadee anyone? If not there is:

Hockey
Rugby (ladies & men's)
Lacrosse (rare nowadays)
Volleyball
Handball (especially in the EU/ Europe)
Swimming
Skiing
Ice skating (north America)
Riding
Netball
Sailing
Tennis
Cricket
Cycling
Squash
Badminton (to a lesser degree)
Polo (equine & water)

(¥) by bodies, it is meant European bodies; they did not see the body of the slave in the same manner.

Saying "it's down to the parents" as if choosing not to "prioritise" skiing holidays is somehow a moral failing is pretty poor.

I think it’s mainly linked to what the parents enjoy doing, and themselves enjoyed when young. While money is a factor, I don’t think it’s the main inhibiting factor.

For instance, I am astonished /appalled at the cost of games consoles and the games for them. I refuse point blank to spend any money on that sort of thing for my children. But I do spend money on swimming, sports kit, and out-of-school sports clubs.

Compare with a friend of my daughter, who could be described as being in a “working class” family: the girl is a very able sportswoman with great natural aptitude, but in her household the “recreation” budget is spent on numerous games consoles and expensive games, and not on physically active sports. From conversations I think the total annual spend is similar; parental interest dictates what it is spent on. We both live near the same lovely park and a municipal swimming pool which runs free sessions weekly (so cost is not a barrier): my family go to the park and pool frequently; the other family never go. If you think sport is fun, you prioritise it!

@TeaAddict235 lacrosse is very big still with the mc on the East Coast of America.. Fits the college application box of team sports nicely & is seen as an umc sport..

I agree.

My child is involved in an activity for something very competitive, and can be expensive. We attended a talk (trying to be vague for privacy) from an industry professional. They were asked about extra curricular hours. Apparently some of the London based children particularly were given too much, and too many hours, in their opinion.

I personally know of two or three children, who due to success were doing more and more. Those people dropped out completely (at a similar age 13-15), one is receiving help for poor mental health. Extreme example there, and most parents are sensible I'm sure.

Agree Tom !!

MC parents are more likely to see the value in exercise and spending time outside so they automatically pass that in to their children. They regard swimming as an important life skill rather than just a fun activity so the prioritise lessons.

Children will do what they see their parents do.

"Oh christ.... this old chestnut. "We prioritise..."

Most people aren't choosing a big house over sport. Because most people can't afford a big house even if they don't pay for skiing.

The sports you listed are expensive and skiing and snowshoeing require travel to the areas where they can be done. That's totally out of reach for many people, regardless of what they "prioritise".

Your original post was tone deaf because it failed to acknowledge the barriers to entry. Your follow up is worse."

It is tone deaf most certainly. They might be prioritising managing to pay the bills or provide adequate food. Not a large house or video games, as I think have been mentioned. It's not difficult to consider these possibilities.

True true @Spaghettisavesmysoul !

Lived and worked for many years in Germany, and was amazed that horse riding is associated as a working class sport over there! The mind boggles! Also skiing isn't spectacularly middle class either. But sailing (for a country that has such limited access to the sea, but tonnes of lakes) is for the preserve of the middle classes.

This thread may however lead to a significant amount of humble bragging. It has already started.

Money, money, money.

My kids were outdoors and active from a very young age. They are teenagers now and don't want to walk down the local canal or other local walks I do. We can't afford expensive and exciting sports.

I’ve just done the maths and we spend just short of £500 a month on clubs for dc (who aren’t naturally sporty). It’s a mix of dance, horse riding, drama and gymnastics.

that said, many families from all backgrounds have dogs but when we walk our dog all together as a family (most weekends unless someone is sick/has a play date) we rarely see whole families doing the same. Where and when are they walking their dogs?

IME it stems from the parents....I wasn't outdoorsy when I was a kid but DH was hugely into footie & cricket and both DSs started these age 5...however, both clubs had a scheme for swapping/donating footie boots and cricket whites and we used this for first 5/6 years.
Kids had second hand bikes or free ones and we all went out cycling pretty much every weekend.
Swimming lessons was an absolute necessity for many years and yes, did cost us a lot of money for all 3 DC. We didn't go on holiday (only to parents in Wales), didn't have Sky etc.

Cost, time and accessibility.

One example here is the closure of the leisure centre. Now to swim, gym or play sport people have to go to the next town.

5 miles of country roads and no paths. Buses are irregular and it costs £7.95 return.

Households where heat or eat is coming into play, where parents are juggling multiple jobs and don’t have a car can’t access those facilities.

I also like binge watching Netflix series and have no shame in that.

@TeaAddict235 skiing is definitely a normal pursuit for Eastern Europeans, Scandinavias & Central Europeans. We have lovely Slovakian neighbours & twice during the winter they get cheap easyjet flight's home & ski in their hometown.. Their dc are very accomplished skiers. They find it very funny how it's seen as "posh" in the UK, it's accessible to everyone in their country & very cheaply too if they want to go to Slovakian resorts.

Absolute rubbish. You have obviously never read the many posts on here from parents trying desperately to find affordable swimming lessons. They are always advised to have expensive private ones.
It is a very middle-class trait to congratulate yourselves for making morally superior choices unlike those poorer people who can't afford to make the same choices as you.

I'm a working class single parent, work full time plus UC. My kids between them do rugby, ballet, musical theatre, swimming lessons, kayaking, music lessons. None of it is hugely expensive. Rugby for example is £20 for a year per child and they do free half day sessions in the holidays.It does take time, money and commitment. I'll invest in kit like wetsuits and paddleboards and then we go to local loch a lot in nice weather free apart from petrol and packed lunch.

I prioritise stuff like this though and buy clothes from Ebay, have 1 haircut a year, no holidays or big days out for kids. Beyond petrol for work, cheap skincare from Aldi, a payday bottle of wine once a month I spend hardly anything on myself. I don't smoke or go to the pub/or pay to socialise. It's a bit sad but life consists of work, cleaning, cooking and driving kids to activities and studying in the evening so I can make more money :)

Surely it's down to finances - directly and indirectly? One of the things that infuriates me about our local state primary school is that the school pretty much refuses to do after school extra curricular activities or anything except football at lunch time. As a result, the children from the MC families are already gaining all kinds of additional opportunities and skills because their parents have the money to sign them up to private clubs etc AND they also have the resources to make this happen. eg DH and I are married, 2 cars. I work full time but from home, he works part time. So not only can we afford the DC's activities, one of us can easily take them. Ds is older and now has a few activities that are a bit further away and/or end later in the evening but he can do them because I can take him while Dh sorts DD and gets her to bed.

However, our school maintains that extra stuff after school is something the parents use as free (or almost free) childcare so they limit it excessively.

And then act surprised that there's such a huge gap between the students at the school already.

What's mc?