DJ Lioness said:
You're misunderstanding, text books arent free in colleges in fact they're not even free in secondary school, most are £25/£30 a pop and more time thats only to cover a few modules. Thats excluding travel, lunch and clothing expensives, I dont know if things are cheaper in Essex but £30 a week cant stretch that far. Also once kids turn 16 (or is it 18?) the extra benefits given to their parents stops, that leaves no opportunities but leaving education to get a full time job if your parents dont earn enough to support u whether youre gifted or not, or shottin work. Not forgetting Uni isn't free, you get in debt just to not be in it when you're older lol
There are ghetto or 'poor' areas though, just not to the extent of bloods and crips and segregation certainly exists. The opportunities better off people go on about are based on social status more than ethnicity, even though some would argue they can be mutually exclusive. I dont think you can deny that alot of the time your background influences your future and what opportunities you can actually make the most of.
Two points that i experience (i'm a student in Holland, we have a fair system -- about £1100 course fee every year -- books add up to £400 a year -- we get free public transport through weekdays and a government grant based on parents finacial situation):
The sutdents that pay for their own education are a lot more motivated and get a lot more out of their education than kids that have everything payed by their parents. Putting yourself in debt isn't a bad thing, it's investing in yourself after all.....
For the same reason i don't believe in free education, as it diminishes the value of the course.
Another point about apportunities, in relation to different social ...(status/group/ethniticity), people from a 'lower' social group aren't introduced/exposed to certain thoughts. Childeren of a manager are introduced to his/her perspectives, which are largely formed by his/her work. Childeren of 'lower' class parents are introduced to perspectives that are formed by hardship and things that dont work out.
that makes for a far pessimistic perception of how big the step of putting yourself in debt to get a degree -- which ultimately makes it a very BIG step
And that then repeats and repeats and repeats -- turning it into a part of the culture
Like working 80 hours a week in a restaurant kitchen is part of the Chinese immigrants culture
So the point that I'll try and make from this ramble, is that the same possibilities are possible or impossible for different people -- because of their perception of it