Alec Richardson Case

Reflective Essay on the Effects of SES

Alec Richardson

Concordia University

There is a familiar idiom that says "the apple doesn't fall from the tree." This we use when we realize perhaps a child is behaving like its parent or parents in some way. Perhaps with some delight or disdain, we view the characteristics in the child as being matured in the parent. In the question of nature vs nurture, we suppose the child may not have a chance to perform differently than his ancestors.

Can we fight the natural tendency to low performance? It was thought so by the framers of the War on Poverty who assumed a large dose of mainstream culture was the formula to raise the intellectual performance of Low SES children (Hart & Risley, 1995). This as it turns out, wasn't necessarily what these children needed. Many children still follow the footsteps of their parents living with unemployment or on the welfare system. Then the cycle of poverty continues in the next generation (Hart & Risley).

Is it only the better educated, financially secure middle class that will produce the better learner while the poorer parents send their children to school unprepared or is the reverse true or possible? Or can it be said that SES has no bearing on the preparedness of children entering school?

"Before beginning kindegarten, children need to know about their families, themselves, and the world" (APA, 2014). The site goes on further to add behaviors like reading to your child, singing, teaching basic colors, etc., these are considered to be very basic necessities of children entering kindergarten. These are not exhaustive, but a good beginning to preparing the child for school.

The aforementioned skills are the prescribed formula for success and should be easy for any parent to execute. The question here is how is each group represented? I believe that it is equally possible for each scenario. It is possible for middle class parents to neglect things as it is possible for low SES parents to give great attention to them.

The percentage of parents who are college educated who send their children to school unprepared is probably very low. This would be because they would most likely have access to more resources like print