So, white working class children are being failed by schools and society in general.

[mrsruffallo]

Held in contempt by the middle classes (much evidence of that on here)
Industry no longer provides these people with a job for a life, dismissed as chavs, it seems that these are the the people that it is okay to ignore.....

To be honest I have lost track of what class we're all meant to be these days.

Are you referring to a study or article?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10528359 Link here

I know what you mean MIB- most people seem to refer to criminals or the unemployed as working class, but there are many hardworking families

Link

So its white working class this week, next week it will be black boys, the week another group. Just who is doing well in our schools?

No such thing as a job for life anymore, hasn't been for a while. Being white and working class has nothing to do with that.

I'm white working class, my wife is black working class. Neither of us "expect" a job for life, or even that our own jobs are safe. Work hard and stop moaning and looking for excuses.

I personally would not class the criminals or long term uneployed, so called chavs as working class. To me the very name suggests someone who is in work. This would be someone in a menial job such as a cleaner or factory worker for instance but definitely someone who works.

How progressive BigTech

There is a recognised problem with underacheivement in white boys from lower-income groups. It is not as simple as them being ignored by society or dismissed as chavs by contemptuous MCs. There's a very complex back-story of low expectations, low self-esteem, peer-pressure to underperform at school, disappearance of traditional jobs, lack of role models ... amongst other things. Boys from other ethnic backgrounds - often in the same neighbourhood and income group - do not seem to suffer from the same handicaps... finding out why is key.

There is a problem with the loss of manufacturing jobs from huge swathes of the country in the 80s (thanks Maggie!) which would have traditionally provided employment for white, working class people. Not sure what the solution is though .

oooooo - so - if we're not working does that mean that we're the underclass

We all know the children they're talking about and these dismissive posts highlight the problem.

There is a section of society that has become completely acceptable to ignore and discriminate against. There is a lot of help out there and discussion about poor children from ethnic minorites, eal pupils and making sure these families feel included. The white poor children are ignored and will continue to be ignored as they go up through the education system, and then later onto benefits.

We laugh at them and call them chavs.

I'm not talking about us white working class people who want the best for our children and value the importance of education... I'm talking about the ones whose families laugh when their child gets a detention for swearing at the teacher. These are the children who need the most support and encouragement.

Thing is this changes frequently doesn't it - a few years back it was black boys that were being failed by schools, now it's white working class boys - a few years down the line I bet it'll be another group

When I say we, I mean society as a whole. Most people probably call me a chav and look down on me for being a young mother with two small children.

But I have the benefit of a solid education, and the aspirations and determination to want better.

We need to look at why a lot of the white underclass are quite happy staying where they are.

Stick them all in army if they won't work! They will soon want to study/look for work.

No but the point is everyone knows black boys don't do as well as their white middle claSs peers, but correct me if I'm wrong it is the white working class who do worst.

I studied this a while back so could be getting it wrong.
And isn't it that black boys of carribean descent do a lot worse than black boys of african descent.

Its not oh one minute we were worried about black boys this wEek its changed to poor white kids... The poor white children have alwayd underachieved, its just that no one really cared.

I think messybedhead is right, everybody has known for years that white working class boys in particular have underachieved, but nobody cared about them. There are initiatives for everyone else, but not for them.

Correct me if I'm wrong but you seem to be saying that this has something to do with them being white.... and that you think there has been more help given to ethnic minorities? That they get some kind of unfair advantage simply because of their colour/race?

You talk about people who 'laugh when their child gets detention' and that is at the nub of the problem. Cultural apathy. The same families may not care if their child attends school or how well they are doing when they get there. They have low expectations for their children, perhaps. If help is offered, they're likely to refuse it. By contrast, certain ethnic minority groups are renowned (regardless of their income level) for having high expectations, for valuing educational achievement, for being ambitious for their kids. They don't have this attitude because of racially skewed extra help - it is ingrained in their culture.

"You talk about people who 'laugh when their child gets detention' and that is at the nub of the problem. Cultural apathy."

I'll second that.

In my experience of schools in a deprived area of a major city the it's that lack of parental support and involvement that dooms the efforts the schools do make to failure.

There is a general apathy to the schools and their efforts unless a child is disciplined in which case you do then see the parents through the school doors but it's only to complain.

What to do?

No idea.

But there's not really a lot more the schools can do, it's the attitudes of the parents that need to be tackled.

mrsruffalo, I wasn't being progressive. My point was that your background doesn't preclude you doing well.

If you can't be arsed, you won't do well. If you work hard, you will do better. It's not rocket science.

To me, it's too defeatist to blame the government, or something wider than ourselves for our own personal development.

no a few years back it was definitely black boys (can't remember if there was a distinction between those Caribbean descent and those of African descent) that were doing the worst. This is going back a few years now mind - early 2000's

Interestingly I just tried to google it and came up with news articles from 2 years ago giving the same story as the one linked to in this thread is - that white working class boys were fairing worst at school. So it's not a new trend

If anyone can define working class to me I would be grateful.

My mum says in parenting the difference between the working class and the middle class was always considered to be a difference between those who say 'because I told you so' and those who use reason and communication with their children. Maybe the so called working classes are mostly being failed by their parents.

Is anyone else in an area with family workers and family rooms in primary schools? These were introduced here about 4 or 5 years ago and from the anecdotal evidence I see around me they have made a huge difference to all the mix of families at the schools my children go to.

We are in an area of broad ethnic mix but many of the children are white and a large number are in that 'entitled to free school dinners' group. The family workers work with all the parents of the current children as well as some of those who have left and many of those in the local area with under school age children.

The parents are all welcome to drop in and have a coffee in the family room and have a chat to the family worker and chat about anything and everything. Courses are run in school, some are just adults with qualifications available and some are with our own children and in every case a free creche is available on site.

The uptake has been vast and now for the second year in a row there is an organised family day-trip to the seaside over the summer, last year around 100 people went, this year 220 people are booked to go.

All this may seem beside the point but this scheme has really got the parents (and grandparents and a range of other carers) bought into the school, it feels like 'our school' and that has changed the attitudes towards the school, the parents have become more respectful and supportive which has had a massive influence on how the children feel about school, their work and their prospects.

Sorry, I have gone on more than I planned but I do think family workers and family rooms have made a big positive difference in regard to this problem.

that sounds like a good scheme MumInBeds, real participation and gives the parents a sense of ownership