#3- Class and SES

After spending a week discussing class and socioeconomic with my group my mind has been intrigued with the various classes, feelings and issues that can arise just by the class you "fit" into. It was very eye opening to read about how many people really are homeless. I never thought of a normal everyday person that I see daily in a classroom as a homeless child. How can this be possible? How does a child function on a day to day basis without a bed to sleep in? Growing up is hard enough being comfortable in a home, I can't imagine the feelings one deals with in school knowing they have no home. Each day as a teacher I strive to stop and think before I ask them to relate to a situation that maybe they have never experienced, but yet I fall short at times and it pulls at my heart when I allow a student to feel vulnerable.

I experienced a change in class when I was in middle school. My father was the president of a bank, we owned a Porsche, had a home in St. John's Virgin Island and I went to summer camp every summer. I thought this was all normal for a 6th grader! Well, the 80's came and the whole Savings and Loan industry crashed, leaving my family to pick up the pieces. I never realized the true change of class that came with this crash, as my parents tried to keep day to day life the same. As I look back I see the changes that truly happened and thank goodness for my parents I didn't know exactly the huge changes they made to make my life as "normal" as it had been. Class is such a part of society and is pressured by the media. I do feel that parents influence how children view class and what is "normal." I am thankful that my parents never allowed me to feel the pain, stress and changes that they had to on a daily basis. We all made it through those hard times. My dad never gave up and started his own company which today is a success! Just when you think a change in class can ruin you, it proved to improve our lives! Because of them I attended a university with no student loans and am able to be in graduate school as well.

Money is something we all can't live without but at times can't seem to have enough. When will money not be the focus for children to be successful? Will they ever feel like they "fit" in when bigger and better is always being made?