Re:Americans are not very ethnocentric (Score 1)

Mother went to college and finished? That right there takes you out of the "I'm a poor kid and I made it" conversation. Poor kid with a college educated mother!

I agree with your comment about education and college being the best way to improve you economic situation...but where do you think you gained that insight? I'm sure your mother had a ton to do with it. Was not going to college ever an option for you? I don't think it is for most people that have parents with college degrees because those parents definitely understand the benefits because they are living them. It goes both ways, I know first hand that parents that don't have college degrees don't necessarily tell someone they can't go to college, its more the situation where they didn't go to college, so why should you? "Isn't college expensive?" (Not much knowledge that you can get grants/low interest loans if you are poor) or "You need to graduate high school and get a job." Perhaps the worst is indifference to the idea, the biggest problem is parents that don't really have much of an interest in their children's life. "I'm tired, just got off work, all I want to do is sit back and relax."

Like another poster said, it is a cultural thing. That being said, I do believe that it is impossible to separate the cultural issue from the economic issue...its a socio-economic thing. Its the old "chicken or egg" question. A person that comes from a family that is poor with no college educated members in it will probably not end up going to college. All I'm saying is that your drive to excel educationally is directly impacted by your economic and cultural influences. It is a choice, but a choice that was made for you very early on in a sense.

I don't want you to read this and think that I'm saying that ALL poor people with parents lacking a college education don't end up going on to bigger and brighter things. There are some that transcend this, but even they have challenges. Lets say you want to go to college but come from a predominately poor area. Not only do you have to break through the cultural issues, but given that your school doesn't have as much money as other schools, chances are the level of education you get won't be as good as what could be found in more affluent areas. For starters, teachers don't want to teach in poor areas, would you? Crime, drugs, disrespectful students, students that don't want to be there, these are just some of the issues. Sure, there are Teach for America and other noble institutions that try to help this out, but by and large, this isn't the case. Lets say you do have a good teacher, they can't just teach to you. Thanks to "No Child Left Behind", they have to dumb things down so that everyone can follow. Don't use big words! Whats that you say? Take an advanced class? I'm sorry, those aren't available, there aren't enough students interested in them to justify such a program. Its not impossible, but its tough. That's all I'm trying to say.