Why Is It That White Working Class Children Are At The Bottom Of The Achievement Ladder?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2660739/Open-schools-ten-hours-day-tackle-failure-white-working-class-pupils-say-MPs.html

[ummmm]

Because their parents don't push them hard enough.

[sandyRoe]

I agree with Ummm. Their parents don't see the value of education.

[ToraToraTora]

Because they have learnt that the state will give you everything anyway

[mikey4444]

There must be lots of parents who are guilty of not pushing their kids enough, but the question was...why are white working class kids at the bottom ?

I was always used to the idea that the offspring of black, Afro-Caribbean kids, especially the boys, were occupying that rung on the ladder, or has that changed now ?

[ummmm]

Don't be daft, Tora!!!

[mikey4444]

TTT...But the State gives everybody everything for nothing, if they qualify, irrespective of race, so I am not sure why white kids are at the bottom ?

[DrFilth]

mikey i was under the same impression the black afro under 5's must have read r1's posts and worked hard

[anotheoldgit]

mikey4444

/// I was always used to the idea that the offspring of black, Afro-Caribbean kids, especially the boys, were occupying that rung on the ladder, or has that changed now ? ///

Yes and I also mikey, could it be that particular group were granted special measures (unavailable for white kids), so as to address their underachievement?

[sandyRoe]

AOG, wouldn't it be discriminatory if special measures were applied to only one group?

[Gromit]

Perhaps it is speaking English which is holding white working class children back compared to other minorities.

Teach them Chinese.

[maggiebee]

Agree with TTT. We are now on the 4th generation of unemployed; why would the children be encouraged or want to learn? They learn at a very early age that the state provides.

[brionon]

ToraToraTora. You really think that young kids are not learning because they expect the State to give them everything ? Right Winger or Right Winjer?

[ummmm]

It's nonsense, Maggie. Only a small percentage of unemployed chose to be.

[maggiebee]

Sorry ummmmm, I worked with the unemployed for years in a previous life. Yes, many did genuinely want to work but they were far outweighed by those who saw no reason to as the state provided everything they needed. How can you pass on a work ethic to the next generation if you don't have it yourself. School was often seen as a necessary evil at best.

[ummmm]

But it's still a very small percentage.

[DrFilth]

>How can you pass on a work ethic to the next generation if you don't have it yourself. School was often seen as a necessary evil at best. <

i would think that any dad who was not working would want their child to learn so that they would have a future and not have to live from week to week and struggle to pay even the small bills

the child growing up with nothing would want to do better

[dave50]

Because they are not seen as a 'special case' the majority effort and resources are targeted at so called minorities and it's time this stopped.

[sandyRoe]

Some of these children would be sharing the same classroom. Where's the evidence that white working-class kids would be deprived of something that other got?