social class meme

This meme is from “What Privileges Do You Have?”, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

Bold the statements that apply to you:

Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
Were read children’s books by a parent.
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18.
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18. (Swimming, riding, figure skating, tennis, dancing, piano.)
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs. (Actually my grandmother.)
Went to a private high school.
Went to summer camp. (No, because we had a summer house at the beach.)
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels.
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them. (My first car was a hand-me-down from them, but when that one was stolen they bought me a new Ford Pinto.)
There was original art in your house when you were a child
You and your family lived in a single-family house.
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home.
You had your own room as a child.
You had a phone in your room before you turned 18.
Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course.
Had your own TV in your room in high school.
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.
Went on a cruise with your family.
Went on more than one cruise with your family.
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.

What strikes me is that some of these things have changed over time. I don't think many kids in late 1960s had phones or TVs in their bedrooms, and prep courses and tutors were much less common. My kids would score higher than I do though we are much less wealthy, comparatively, than my parents were when I was a kid. Partly that is because of things that more kids have, and partly because this exercise pretty much tops out at upper middle class (eg. see my note to the question about summer camp).