Jean Anyon Essay Responce

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

September 23, 2015

Prof. Young

Jean Anyon Essay

Even though Jean Anyon’s essay on social class and education was written in the nineteen seventies I still believe that it holds merit in many parts of the country today. She stated that children in high class or rich areas are being trained and prepared for high paying jobs and further education while the middle and lower classes are being prepared for blue collar jobs and trade skill jobs. I myself grew up in a town where her point can be seen pretty clearly. In my hometown of Jefferson there are many schools, we have basic kindergarten, elementary schools, and middle schools but once the younger people of town get out of the middle school they have the opportunity to go to one of three high school options.

For the people willing to pay for their education they can go to Pope John a school known in Jefferson for its wonderful education that is payed for by the children’s parents, who normally have very well paying jobs such as being a doctor, a lawyer, or a large business owner of some sort. Pope John is considered to be the upper class school for the people of Jefferson and the surrounding towns and the people who go their normally end up in similar well paying jobs like their parents. This proves Ms. Anyon’s point on the upper class schools in this country and she even proved that the middle class schools are still the same.

The school I went to is considered the middle class school of my home as it was the town’s public school and like Jean Anyon stated the people in this school were the children of government workers and blue collar workers. Also again how Jean Anyon made clear the children in the middle class schools normally ended up in similar if not the same jobs as their parents, i.e. my mother works for the government,  my father works for transit and is a Naval Officer in the reserves, and I plan on going into law enforcement. So again my home town proved that the middle class school system is still the same as it was when she wrote her essay.

Even the lower class is still the same forty years ago. While the people in the lower class part 

of town still went to the public high school they were normally the ones who went to Votech. a 

technical school for people who want to know how to do a trade school and who normally don’t go to 

college. These people who went to Votech. unfortunately do fit into Jean Anyon’s description of the 

lower class when it came to schools. For the most part they did come from single parent families and 

their parents had a very minimal education. So in total I do agree that the school systems in this 

country still reflect her ideals to this day.