There’s a lovely thread running about how to support your young school age child…

[CurlewKate]

People have gone to a lot of trouble to post lots of lovely ideas-and I did many of them myself when mine were that age. One thing it made me think, however, is how lucky some of us are to have the time,space, ability, inclination, confidence and, for some of them, money, to do these things for our children. Irritating as it is to say, we need to remember to check our privilege. Particularly when we’re thinking about education policy.

Is this supposed to be bait?

’Check your privilege’ for… actively trying to do positive things for your children? Come on now.

Check your privilege 😂😂😂

Right. So we shouldn't suggest anything at all, in case another reader hasn't the money, time, confidence to do it? What a race to the bottom that would be.

I agree with the OP. I spent most of my teaching career in very deprived areas and saw evidence daily of the awful struggles faced by many parents to just keep their children fed, clothed and warm. They clearly wanted the best for their children but often didn’t have the emotional or financial resources to do more than the absolute basics, and sometimes not even that.

Where's the thread please?

Why not post this on that thread, @CurlewKate? It seems odd to start an addendum to it.

That doesn’t mean everyone else needs to ‘check their privelege’ for managing to find the capacity to do more for their children though.

Lots of parents do a very good job raising children on limited income, working long hours in stressful jobs, complicated personal lives.

It’s absurd to tell them to ‘check their privelege’ for consciously investing in activities to help their child’s development, because others don’t.

Because that thread is currently about useful and helpful things to do with your children. I donmt want to risk derailing it.

No. That’s not what I said. We should be aware that we are privileged to be able to do these things.

“Check” as in “be aware of”. Not “check” as in “curtail”

Why do we constantly have to check our privilege when it comes to doing things for our children? It wasn’t luck in our case. We have worked hard, go out of our way to make time, made sacrifices in our earlier lives etc. People are sometimes allowed to just do things and enjoy them without always thinking that maybe someone else can’t.

What do you mean exactly when you say check your privilege?

And do you check your privilege every time you eat, turn on a tap, flush the toilet?

What difference will being aware of it do, if we don't curtail anything? What do you want us to do here?

Be aware, for example, that the playing field is not level within a classroom. If you can, volunteer, donate, lobby. Make sure your children know that they are luckier than others and often have easier lives than some of their peers. Think about the issues involved when voting.

I think the people who are already aware don’t need telling and those that do need telling probably won’t listen.