andrewducker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
andrewducker) wrote2008-01-03 12:50 pm
andrewducker) wrote2008-01-03 12:50 pm
Privilege
There's been a meme going around about privilege, which was vaguely interesting in its own right.
More interesting, though, is the post here that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
heron61 pointed me at, about what kind of privileges make a difference at college/university level, including all sorts of things you might never have thought of.
I, by the way, am terribly privileged. Partially because of money, which was always there for the things that mattered when I was growing up. Which doesn't mean large amounts of expensive foreign holidays (when we went abroad it was usually in a cheap, off-season way - we went to Austria by coach, for instance). But it did mean that when I needed additional tutoring to get through my English GCSE it was possible, and when I needed another year to get my degree it was never going to be an issue. Of course, nepotism helped with cash too - because my father was a doctor when I needed a summer job I was working at the hospital without any problems. And of course, I was working in IT because my father was buying computers before they were either popular or readily affordable for the general populace.
The other, and much more important, part of my privilege was growing up with educated parents who had huge numbers of books, watched documentaries and generally made sure I grew up interested in the world around me.
When I was a teenager I remember one of my brothers telling me that the kids in their class did not believe that we sat around a dinner table each evening, eating together and talking about what we'd been doing that day, or anything else that occurred to us. We could ask my parents questions and generally speaking _they would know_. Most of the other kids were eating while staring at the TV. I can't quantify the difference this made to my life, but all three of us are now well educated and earning a fair bit more than the median UK income, so I'm not about to start complaining.
More interesting, though, is the post here that
heron61 pointed me at, about what kind of privileges make a difference at college/university level, including all sorts of things you might never have thought of.I, by the way, am terribly privileged. Partially because of money, which was always there for the things that mattered when I was growing up. Which doesn't mean large amounts of expensive foreign holidays (when we went abroad it was usually in a cheap, off-season way - we went to Austria by coach, for instance). But it did mean that when I needed additional tutoring to get through my English GCSE it was possible, and when I needed another year to get my degree it was never going to be an issue. Of course, nepotism helped with cash too - because my father was a doctor when I needed a summer job I was working at the hospital without any problems. And of course, I was working in IT because my father was buying computers before they were either popular or readily affordable for the general populace.
The other, and much more important, part of my privilege was growing up with educated parents who had huge numbers of books, watched documentaries and generally made sure I grew up interested in the world around me.
When I was a teenager I remember one of my brothers telling me that the kids in their class did not believe that we sat around a dinner table each evening, eating together and talking about what we'd been doing that day, or anything else that occurred to us. We could ask my parents questions and generally speaking _they would know_. Most of the other kids were eating while staring at the TV. I can't quantify the difference this made to my life, but all three of us are now well educated and earning a fair bit more than the median UK income, so I'm not about to start complaining.
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My father is a plumber/pipe-fitter and my mother has had various jobs, including head of the secretarial pool in an office, personal assistnat to the director of a fruit market and finally dinner lady (at my primary, so that she could be at home when I was). However they had a great attitude to saving and set up an account for me as soon as I was born, later investing the money in stocks and shares and finally pooling the cash into a Tessa so that I never wanted for anything growing up. The money from my life assurance policies, shares and the Tessa account were handed to me on my 16th birthday and I continued to invest. Thus, when it came to buying my first flat I didn't have to scrape for the deposit or worry about furnishings - I had a very tidy sum waiting for me.
When I was a child my dad used to take me to the mueums and galleries while my mum was at the hairdresser and they both read to me every day until I could read myself. They always encourage learning and did want me to go to university, although I hope they weren't dissapointed when I decided it wasn't for me. Bizarrely enough they were even criticised for teaching me too well when I started primary school. Which I started a full year early: uncommon at the time.
My parents worked hard to give me everything I have and I will always be grateful to them for giving me such a good start in life. :)
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