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...

DH teaches in a comp, they do rugby. I went to a computer, we did lacrosse. It was a bloody nightmare we had to travel for hours to matches as it was all the private, mostly boarding schools who played it at that time.

We live in Scotland. DH and I have never ski'd but all our kids learnt to (downhill) ski at Scouts, free, with borrowed equipment.

Two of them are lifelong enthusiastic skiers, own their own skis, continue to enjoy free skiing every winter in Scotland, and travel to ski in France, Italy, Norway and USA .
Our grandkids started skiing ( back garden in Scotland) as soon as they could stand on tiny plastic skis, well before age 3.

Yes, I saw and quoted where you said you worked full time and the universal credit was in addition. @bloodyeverlastinghell

Again, I don't think that's typical and I believe single parents are usually amongst the worst off under universal credit.

I do think money is a big part of it but it's also largely about time and prioritising the activities Even cheaper activities like Scouts require parents to be prepared and able to make sure children attend and have the correct uniform etc.

I would say we are mc and in a mc area. My children go to state school but swim competitively, have music lessons, do multiple sports etc. it's just kind of normal to be spending evenings running kids too and fro but it's a bit mad if you ever stop to think about it. Lots of parents in mc jobs seem to be able to WFH more often these days (not me!) and that helps to facilitate all the activities.

@GerbilsForever24 you hit the nail on the head! There's a social capital. If dc's future uni friends asked her to go for a ski weekend or a game of tennis she would be out of her depth as she hasn't learned & is unlikely to have by the time uni does roll around...
Likewise if her future friends say wanted to go backpacking & pier jumping in Thailand, I'd like her to feel competent enough as a swimmer to be able to join in safely. To get to that level of a swimmer takes years of money parental involvement imo..

I guess there would be a mixture of each, depending on ages of DC. I'm sure lots of people do this as well as organised activity.

My DC used to do fewer organised activities than their peers mainly due to cost. Almost everyone in our town seems to go skiing in half term, which we never have.

A lot of things are team sports, which you can't really do within a family.

Lots of comps now do rugby because of out reach programs that start at primary school. (One England mens union player was in the same year and classes as one of my nephews'.) There are actually lots of rugby pitches in London but unless you are aware of them you don't see them.

Likewise there have also been out reach programs for tennis and rowing in London.

However it depends on where you live. So for example I have a friend who did rowing as a teen through school, a comp, because she lived about 2 miles from a river where you could do so, there as I lived further away so obviously it wasn't practical.

Many sports clubs are charities and to maintain their charitable status they need to reach out to their local communities so target their programs at state schools. When I was at school, a comp, we could do horse riding, ice skating, squash and tennis first free and then subsidised. We could also get to them ourselves once secondary age due to public transport.

Oh and lots of inner city kids - mainly boys - now have bikes.

I also think it’s more of a priority and demographic than a money thing, though realise that’s a contributor

I grew up in central Scotland, WC family but top end if thats a thing, DF was in the police, DM was SAHP but went back to work when youngest sis went to secondary and into a job that she was already trained in.

We had good food/meals, nice birthdays Christmas’s a holiday every year and new shoes/bags for new school year. parents went for meals out, me and sisters and I did ballet, brownies, swimming through school etc but all I ever wanted to do was riding lessons which I was always told we couldn’t afford.

I would get a paid lesson for a birthday or Christmas present and I was allowed to spend my weekends up there in the hope of a free ride but they would not entertain it anymore than that, and when I tell you I wanted to do riding lessons and have ponies in my life it was an absolute infatuation for most of my childhood and teenage years.

They just didn’t get the fascination with paying to get freezing wet and cold, hang about with big beasties that couldn’t talk back and then come home stinking of poop. The money wasn’t worth the return for them.

I now have my own DC and they also have caught the horse bug and we have supported it every step of the way, from lessons to, part loans to owning to PC memberships to trailers to regional competitions.

you might think this is just me chasing my own dreams but in comparison we have another DC who took the music/theatre route she has had LAMDA, musical theatre classes piano grade tuition.

Heres the thing though we are in a really similar financial to what my parents were it’s just we put the DC’s interests and hobbies 1st. We don’t have meals out, I don’t buy new clothes I’m a lot more frugal with with what the DC need and want. We don’t go on holiday (though the DC go to camps) I currently have two bras to my name and one has a hole in it. DH hasn’t been to the barbers in about 6 years, does his own hair, the list is endless to the sacrifices we have (silently may I add) made.

Its just really important for me that my DC aren’t limited, within reason to reaching their dreams.

MC boasting rights. Very much an ethos that mc parents don't let their children vegetate in front of the x box. And the widespread unfounded notion that wc kids watch loads of TV.
Footy is seen as wc (unless dad is into it and child is very talented). DS 1 and 2 went to our local tri club in our fairly deprived northern town. Full of affluent mc types at the many races held all over the country. Lots of expensive isla bikes and expensive tri suits visible.
A couple of years ago DS2 took part in some weekly cross country races, open to all the primary schools in our town. The sole private school in the area decided to
participate too. As they finished an hour later than the state schools, the state school pupils had to hang around in the cold waiting for them. By that time most were bored and ready to go home. Private school kids in their distinctive PE gear were at the front of the pack in the race. Seemed to be more competitive and less overweight tbh.

Definitely money and time. But also parental motivation.

My DS' friend has rich parents (top 1% earning). He does no exercise beyond running around the park. For 2 years he did 1hr of tennis a week but stopped when covid happened. He doesn't know how to scooter or ride a bike (he's 11). His parents just aren't interested. He apparently learnt to swim in classes on holiday.

We are a very sporty family. Both Dh and i still do sport on an almost daily basis. Since they were little we've taken the DC on walks, scooter rides (along cycle paths), cycle rides and swimming almost every weekend. They also do 3-5 hours of sports clubs a week and full days in the holidays.

We've also done adventure holidays including canoeing, canyoning, rock climbing, etc.

I'm involved in both WC and MC sports and, while cost is clearly a factor, social norms influence it too. Different sports tend to be valued and aspired to by different groups, so working class families often spend huge amounts of time at football, gymnastics, dance and martial arts. Often there are low cost classes or the club does lots of fundraising & getting grants & there's help with kit where needed. In my unfashionable London suburb, the local football club has a Community Trust which offers loads of sporting activities low cost or free, not just football. The local council outsources a lot of its health promotion work to them. My kids also do/have done hockey & rugby, and while we see a good mix of families there too, there are more MC families. Hockey can be kitted out cheaply as long as you're not a goalie. Rugby is (so I'm told) easier to play at a lower level without much coaching than football, so really doesn't need to be expensive to learn or play. All depends on local clubs. Swimming lessons are from £3.50ish a lesson at the concessionary rate though I'm not sure if the criteria for that rate. Most of the state primaries take their pupils to the leisure centre for lessons in school time.
Round here, horse riding is largely a WC hobby, but I know that varies between stable yards. It isn't cheap but many stables will give teenagers rides in exchange for help.

Money. My kids took tennis lessons, they were £££ we went skiing, that's £££ dd2 played football that wasn't cheap either

That's a good point re the royals... Also Kate & William chose Lambrook for the kids which isn't a very academic school but has state of the art sports facilities... Both Kate & Wills are extremely sporty themselves

Agree with @TheYearOfSmallThings

I'd love to know where you live. Those are extremely unusually low costs. Music lessons are almost never free, even school subsidised ones are £6-7 a lesson typically and private lessons outside school generally twice that at least.
As a PP has noted I've never encountered any rugby club/organisation where the kids play for £20 a year - what about costs for kit, footwear. That alone usually comes to more than £20.
Your ballet lesson costs are also unusually low, and I think you'll find as your child gets older if you want them to continue these activities costs will rocket - music exams you don't get change from £50 even at the lower grades, ballet shows/costumes start costing more, rosettes and exams etc. And no kids don't have to do exams but they sure start to notice when the rest of the class are doing it, and getting the certificate and medal, and they aren't.

Our Rugby club is completely free for children at point of use including kit (and has a free boot bank). Paid for by a massive fundraising effort and sponsorship.

My local park runs a lot of free exercise classes but I think there are only two for children. One is aerobics outside and not sure what the other one is. It might be 'military fitness'. There also was a walk/jog club aimed at beginners that went around the trail on the outside of the park. That one looked really good as they all started at the same time (new to running) and looks like they set goals.

There's another park that has free rounders one day a week but it only runs in the summer.

TBH doing sport outside in the summer is a lot more appealing to most people than the winter!

My children have similar priced activities. Swimming lessons £18 a month and includes free swimming outside lessons.
Gymnastics £5.50 a class
Music is £150 a year via school.
I think local dance/ ballet/athletics and karate are mainly around the £5 mark.
Where we live means we can access walking/ water sports/ fell running/ Rock climbing etc cheaply. People pass around second hand kit.
Cost is a huge factor but depending where you live that can vary a lot.

In truth, it’s parental effort and attitude. Your average middle class parent values achievement and constructive activities that broaden learning outside of school. One only needs to read threads about homework or structure to see there is a cultural divide with many believing children should be allowed to do what they want outside of school hours, that hanging about or playing in the street is a positive thing and that they need ‘down time’. Structure is described as abusive. It’s not, of course but there are very different attitudes.
Cost is a factor but isn’t the main reason. Many local clubs and activities encourage through reduced costs and second hand kit or providing kit.

A few years ago admittedly but rugby was £5 a year and that was waived, if necessary. There were always outgrown boots and other kit ready to be passed on without judgement.

Fencing was £15 a term on an entirely voluntary basis. They visited state schools to encourage participation and all kit was provided. Mini buses were run to competitions, sponsored by local businesses. Nobody was excluded on cost, but the 60 or so youngsters attending were almost exclusively privately educated.

County youth orchestra was dominated by independent schools despite the county music service offering free lessons and supplying instruments.

Ballet probably was prohibitive for those on low income but an incredibly successful youth theatre was entirely on audition and potential. It was still independent school and middle class children dominated.

Obviously expensive things like horse riding and skiing are down to money. We are WC. My boy does football and swimming, my girl swimming and netball. All cheap at local grassroots level. There’s a rugby, cricket and hockey club round here. They’re not expensive. It would be if you went for private lessons or were in academies maybe.

my DH was invited to a ski holiday by his MC friends at work when he was about 25. He had no idea how to ski but luckily is sporty and figured it out by the end of the week. Its not like you can never go if you didn’t get to try things as a child.

Scotland, the government started funding school music lessons in 2021. No-one pays for music lessons in state schools above P4.

Other posters have said that their Rugby clubs are also free/ low cost. Yes I buy boots/ gum guard but most of the kit bobs around second hand. It's casual apart from match days so kit isn't mandatory a lot of kids just play for fun.

Ballet lessons are held in a community building run as a charitable trust to enhance the lives of locals through the arts. This helps keep costs down as the room is rented out for peanuts. Shows are free/ donation of money or cake/ buy some cake. The older girls are just in leotards/tights for the shows. A decent amount of second hand kit floating around too. I was surprised by the cost of the exam though; equivalent to a terms fees. We skipped it and moved up to the next grade anyway. May do the next one though. I'm sure there are more formal ballet schools elsewhere but that's not really our thing. It's more about building strength and confidence and having fun.

I do appreciate that my local activities might be cheaper than in other places. I've perhaps been drawn to them because they are affordable.There are other, more expensive, activities I can't commit to. It is worth exploring your local options you may find some excellent free/ low cost stuff.

I disagree that it is purely a money issue, and if all was even financially it is down to cultural attitudes.
My dc went to a primary school that was smack bang between a very MC area and a large council estate, so it was socio-economically diverse. There were no UMC families, but the more MC families spent leisure time together often doing free things, like walking the dog or at the local beach. Or a family swim at the local council pool (which was about £7.50). Most of the FSM children had all the recent consoles and would have spent weekends doing that alone, in their bedrooms. We live coastally so lovely walks are accessible for everyone and the local pool had special rates for families on mean tested benefits, but very few of the more WC children took part.

@LisaJool You have a good point. There are often efforts locally to get children from deprived backgrounds into activities. These are fully funded with a free lunch, generally well attended and the children have a lovely time but not by the demographic they are hoping to help.

I came from a very poor fsm family. £7.50 swimming would have been too expensive. We did go for walks but we had no transport and could not afford buses, so could only go for walks from the house.
Schemes with subsidised places tended to be full of adults who subtly looked down on us as kids or obviously felt sorry for our poverty. I remember going to one twice with my brother. It was uncomfortable, we never went back.
It is easy to pronounce from outside and blame others with zero understanding of the realities of being very poor.

The local library is in the estate, with quite a lot of free classes (rhyme time etc) but it's mostly the dc of the more MC families that go there. I volunteered in the school as a CA for a number of years and remember one of the dads protested that "reading is for nonces!" when the teacher suggested that he read with his struggling ds.