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Sociology Assignment
Language Use
Differences exist in language use between the middle-class parents and the working-class parents as they bring up their children. According to Brooks (2006), middle-class parents take time to reason with their children; they present the children with choices that would later influence their decisions. Also, middle-class parents bring up children to express themselves freely, pass judgments on adults, and express disappointment. Additionally, children excellently talk to adults, with proper word choices, eye contact maintenance, and courage for audiences.
On the contrary, working-class families bring up their children with little preparation for the world of adulthood and organizations. The working-class parents give short orders without explanations. Their children are bulldozed by harsh language from teachers and doctors. Quite often, their children feel constrained and tongue-tied.
Considering Heller’s views, middle-class parents cultivate language skills in their kids by correcting grammar, suggesting new vocabulary, and elaborating on discussion concepts. Whenever their children asked questions, they would ask more key inquiry questions that would trigger further debate. On the contrary, Heller records that working-class families spend most of their time in silence. The parents are more directive and do not allow the children to whine or talk back.
Interaction with Teacher
From Keller’s point of view, the middle-class parents join hands with teachers to provide education for their children. Each part has a role to play at home and school. However, the middle-class parents are sometimes critical of teachers, with others being mean and unfair in their treatment towards teachers. On the contrary, working-class teachers depend on the teachers’ expertise and always believe that education is the sole responsibility of the school. Thus, no learning takes place at home. Teachers tend to misread the motivations of these parents especially when they relax for being contented with teachers’ work; some teachers think the parents have lost interest. In their criticism of teachers, middle-class parents are more friendly and exercise constructive criticism of teachers than working-class parents are always direct, angry, and defensive when criticizing teachers.
Role of Social Class in Parenthood
Whether racial differences play a role in parenting depends on the experiences of each. Research done by Lareau showed that racial segregation existed, especially between whites and blacks. Therefore, whether one was from a working-class or a middle-class black family, he/she would be stopped or followed around by police; this didn’t happen to the white families. Most blacks, irrespective of their social class, lived in fear of discrimination at work and harassment in the street. Regardless of their social level, black parents were always worried that teachers would not treat their kids fairly. Despite the above differences, both races uniformly talk to their children; they had similar activities in their schedules.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Parenting Styles
Childhood and parenting are different across time and social class. This means each of them to have advantages and disadvantages. Concisely, middle-class parents are hands-on and labor-intensive with regards to parents. The working-class parents utilized their scarce resources to bring up their children by putting food on the table and a roof over their heads. These approaches have both positive and negative results because different approaches to parenting keep coming in and out of fashion.
Criticism of Lareau’s Research
Lareau’s research is eye-opening. It brings excellent discoveries into what society ignores concerning parenting. The findings she reports on language use, parent-teacher relationships, and leisure time is genuine and real. The patterns she points to are existent in most societies in the world, not just America. Considering advanced technology in today’s society, would the same findings hold water?
Work Cited
Brooks, David. “Opinion | Both Sides of Inequality (Published 2006)”. Nytimes.Com, 2006, https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/09/opinion/both-sides-of-inequality.html.
Heller, Rafael. “More Than One Way to Grow Up: An Interview with Annette Lareau – Kappanonline.Org.” Kappanonline.Org, 2019, https://kappanonline.org/annette-lareau-more-than-one-way-grow-up-childhood-heller/.