Concerted Cultivation and the Accomplishment of Natural Growth

Concerted Cultivation and the Accomplishment of Natural Growth
Across the globe many nations and countries have a system of social class. Where the rich and poor are clearly distinguished and shown, and those who aren’t in those categories are considered middle class. Not only do the rich have all most of the money, but they also receive the most schooling, enjoy the best health and consume the most goods and services. Such privileges contrasts sharply with the poverty of millions of women and men who worry about money for the next month’s rent or to pay a doctor’s bill when a child becomes ill. This week’s article talked about concerted cultivation and how it differs between the two social classes of middle class and the working class/poor. The article opens up with an example of two 4th graders both of different races but they are similar in one way, their concerted civilization. They have multiple after school activities, such as piano and sports. These parents are developing their child to cultivate their talents in a concerted fashion. By making sure their children have these and other experiences, middle-class parents engage in a process of concerted cultivation. From this the children gain a sense of entitlement which plays an essential part in institutional settings. It then compares this life to the life of 3 other kids who live in “the projects”. After school, one simply sits in front of the TV while his father drinks a beer. His mom is a working mother, every day after work she comes home and cooks for the family. In these kinds of households extended family is extremely important. So important that the mother calls hers every day and his uncle frequently comes over to the house. Another little boy, also living in the projects plays outside with his cousins where they engage in a twilight water balloon fight. The adults in these children’s lives of course want what is best for them but formidable economic constraints make it a major life task for these parents to put food on the table, take children to the doctor, clean children’s clothes, and get children to bed and have them ready for school the next morning. But there is another difference between these parents. These parents do not focus on concerned cultivation. They don’t consider the concerted development of children, particularly through organized leisure activities. The book brings out that social classes makes a difference in 4 main areas of life, health, values and attitudes, politics, and family and gender. The article focuses on values and attitudes and family. The book shows that those affluent people are more likely to use homes and cars and other things as status symbols while those in the working class do not because they cannot. The main area that both the article and book focus on is when it comes to family. Working class parents encourage children to conform to conventional norms and to respect authority figures. Parents of higher social standings pass on a different “cultural capital” to their children, teaching them to express their individuality and use their imagination more freely. The article capitalizes on this thought when it says that “….they, the children, act as if they had a right to pursue their own individual preferences and to actively manage interactions in institutional settings. They appeared comfortable in these settings; they were open to sharing information and asking for attention. Those of the working class in contrast show and emerging sense of constraint. They are less likely to try to customize interactions to fit their preferences, and they automatically accept the actions of persons in authority.” The book and article both show that the parents are looking to the future. They know that the odds are that less privileged children will have jobs that required them to follow rules and that more privileged children will have careers that requires more creativity. So they teach their children either to conform to the norms and rules or society or to step outside the box and do what they prefer. The thing about social class is that no matter what it’ll always be there. What the book and article both show is that because social class is such a big part of the culture where we live, there will always be that bridge or that gap separating the two classes. You will see the children who decide to excel and those who simple settle for the bare minimum. Now most of the time it’s not because they want or don’t want the best for themselves, it’s because of where they are in societies hierarchy of social class.