Analysis Of Lareau's Emerging Sense Of Entitlement

IV
Although it is likely clear already, we four individuals most closely resemble Lareau’s middle class. In general, our parents seemed to utilize many of the same childrearing strategies that Lareau’s subjects used during her research. At home, we four were engaged by our parents who helped expand our language skills and strengthen our grasp on communication. For all but Crockett, we were encouraged to do so in public as well, even with authority figures. We four were all assured that we had nothing to fear from telling the doctor the truth; we were all assured that asking our teachers for clarification when we were having trouble following was the best course of action; we were taught that we were allowed to ask for things. And, once

I have a lot to say about Lareau’s Emerging Sense of Entitlement – a lot of conflicted things. First, my interviews certainly agree with Lareau’s findings that show that middle class parents try to show their children how to assert themselves and feel comfortable doing so. However, rather than becoming comfortable with authority figures, we all seem to have an aversion to such individuals, perhaps even a fear of authority for one or two of us. Assuming this is a pattern and not a series of isolated incidents, I wonder if this change could be related to media portrayals and overall societal opinions of authority and how they have changed in the past 15

First, Lareau’s study shows that children from families of lower SES are more likely to exhibit a far higher sense of constraint than those from families of higher SES who are far more likely to exhibit a higher sense of entitlement. “Middle-class children expect institutions to be responsive to them and to accommodate their individual needs. By contrast…[the working class] are being given lessons in frustration and powerlessness” (Lareau, 771). This quote shows clearly how differently these two groups of children are seeing the world due to the class they were born into. Next, if your family has a low SES, chances are high that your parents do not have the types of connections others may. There is no “Jim from college,” who works for CBS; no “my father’s friend, Jane,” who is a partner at a law firm. This can make hurdles especially hard, such as applying to schools or trying to get a first job. Although my family is of a higher class, neither of my parents attended college. When it came time to start looking at schools, I had already begun homeschooling and had no resources outside of my immediate family, and we were flying blind – or at least, we would have been had we not been able to hire a counselor to assist me. We counteracted the disadvantage the resulted from both of my parents coming from lower-class families by utilizing wealth they now possess. If my parents were