To think its not undesirable to be working class?

[HotSince82]

And that actually you can live a perfectly nice life and be quite content, with no aspirations towards upwards social mobility?

I have been noticing in the news at present that WC children are being termed 'disadvantaged' with regards to homeschooling.
Presumably this is in relation to a supposed lack of laptops/ipads etc to aid online learning and/or lack of parental engagement/education level.
From personal experience I don't believe this to be the case. My children and their peers almost without exception have access to these things and parents are motivated and educated sufficiently to support their children's learning.
I am however in no way denying the very real experiences of the children who are living in economically and socially disadvantaged circumstances. I fundamentally believe that every possible scrap of governmental/educational support and assistance available should be provided to them throughout the covid crisis and beyond. I simply don't believe that such disadvantage is a reality within the very vast majority of WC households.

Surely WC isn't synonymous with disadvantage? I feel as though my family has a perfectly nice lifestyle as do those of my acquaintances who are all, broadly speaking very much WC.

I would go so far as to say that I would be content if any of my children replicated a standard of living which is similar to how they have been brought up. Yes, if they become extremely high earners that would I'm certain be rather lovely, but it is in no way a prerequisite to an enjoyable, contented life.

I'm pretty sure that I am correct in this assumption but if I'm missing anything I know that you will all point me in the right direction.

8mint* totally agree. I wish they would run summer schools every year for this group.

Access to laptops and various enabling technology does not equal learning though does it? There are plenty on children, of all social classes, using those devices to access Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite rather than Oak Academy or school PowerPoints. You are correct that pigeonholing families into a social class based on dated structures is not always accurate, modern definitions of social class have been updated beyond working/middle and upper and are far more nuanced based on your property wealth, social connections, occupation, educational status, cultural capital and hobbies/interests. Assumptions are made by educators about those in the lower classes, such as less exposure to books at home and breadth of vocabulary used in the home, hence the educational disadvantage. It is unlikely the children of doctors or lawyers will have that type of educational disadvantage in vocabulary, as one example, for they would have been exposed to academic language (even if unconsciously applied) from birth.
Yes of course many working class families are enjoying life comfortably, but many also rely on benefits to top up their wages just to pay the bills and put food on the table, now they are also expected to be enthusiastically homeschooling their children as well as a family that doesn't have financial difficulties? You can see that those children might need some extra help when they return to school.

@aintnothinbutagstring

Access to laptops and various enabling technology does not equal learning though does it? There are plenty on children, of all social classes, using those devices to access Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite rather than Oak Academy or school PowerPoints. You are correct that pigeonholing families into a social class based on dated structures is not always accurate, modern definitions of social class have been updated beyond working/middle and upper and are far more nuanced based on your property wealth, social connections, occupation, educational status, cultural capital and hobbies/interests. Assumptions are made by educators about those in the lower classes, such as less exposure to books at home and breadth of vocabulary used in the home, hence the educational disadvantage. It is unlikely the children of doctors or lawyers will have that type of educational disadvantage in vocabulary, as one example, for they would have been exposed to academic language (even if unconsciously applied) from birth. Yes of course many working class families are enjoying life comfortably, but many also rely on benefits to top up their wages just to pay the bills and put food on the table, now they are also expected to be enthusiastically homeschooling their children as well as a family that doesn't have financial difficulties? You can see that those children might need some extra help when they return to school.

I do think that it needs to be considered more widely then that. Some working class families have been able to access furlough, and through benefits have retained a steady income through current situation. These families may have more time to homeschool children. Even those who have continued to work throughout will likely have more spare time on weekends, or prior or post shifts. Whereas children of two professionals (accountants, doctors, consultants) may have parents who are still required to work long hours and already worked through weekends whether at home or at work, and therefore are not able to have any parent led home schooling. So although they benefit from access to technology, it may not count for much if they there parents dont have time to focus them on completing school work. This also counts for the children of teachers, nurses, key workers, who have seen their working hours increase during the current pandemic, leaving them with very minimal time to focus on educating their children while being absolutely exhausted.

Ime it isn't always money (or lack of) that disadvantages children, it's their parents.

Some kids at the school I work in (and the school my eldest son goes to) come in with dirty uniform and have difficult, chaotic home lives, where they are around DV, alcohol and drug abuse.

We live in a road where most of the houses are HMO's because we don't have back gardens and they are at the foot of a high rise and by a busy road. My son goes to school in clean uniform, shoes that fit and comes home to parents who are calm, loving and interested in him. That is what means he isn't disadvantaged, rather than the money we (don't) have.

I came from a background of money and abuse (DV, alcoholism) and I'm pleased to say that my son is having a far superior childhood to mine, despite living in a ex area and going to a school that needs improvement because it is our nearest.