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This is pretty much what I came to say. Both of my parents came from very poor families, but they both valued education very highly. My brother and I may as we

This is pretty much what I came to say. Both of my parents came from very poor families, but they both valued education very highly. My brother and I may as well been born into a wealthy family since we both got every educational resource we needed, but up until I was 10 years old my parents had to make huge sacrifices to achieve that. In these poor communities I'm seeing a tendency to stigmatize education... that's the biggest problem. The educational resources available to anyone today obliterates what we had in the 80's. You don't need to be an elite to have access to the critical material, you just need the desire to pursue it.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
> You don't need to be an elite to have access to the critical material, you just need the desire to pursue it. For most children and teenagers, this desire is at least partly a function of one’s peers. Hence the premium placed on houses in certain school districts or neighborhoods.
- bstar77 5y ago
  That's pretty much the point I was making. The whole community has to buy into the value of education. If you are getting harassed by your peers because you are reading a book for enjoyment, you are likely going to stop.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    My intention was to point out that “you just need the desire to pursue it” is often not just a “you” problem, unfortunately, since people are heavily influenced by their environment.
dron57 5y ago
> The educational resources available to anyone today obliterates what we had in the 80's. Do you mean the materials available online? There's definitely lots of great material online, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence that schools and universities have gotten any better (despite becoming much more expensive).
- bstar77 5y ago
  I'm referring to things like "Nicole the Math Lady", "Kahn Academy" and other supplemental education resources. Even Wikipedia can get you on the right track with any topic. Since I homeschool my son I don't know if the schools have gotten better. I took an accelerated Calculus class one summer. My parents spent hundreds of dollars on a VHS calculus set to supplement the class because it was moving too fast for me. That was the difference maker in me passing. Today, getting that info is trivial and available to everyone.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

> You don't need to be an elite to have access to the critical material, you just need the desire to pursue it. For most children and teenagers, this desire is at least partly a function of one’s peers. Hence the premium placed on houses in certain school districts or neighborhoods.

bstar77 5y ago
That's pretty much the point I was making. The whole community has to buy into the value of education. If you are getting harassed by your peers because you are reading a book for enjoyment, you are likely going to stop.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  My intention was to point out that “you just need the desire to pursue it” is often not just a “you” problem, unfortunately, since people are heavily influenced by their environment.

dron57 5y ago

> The educational resources available to anyone today obliterates what we had in the 80's. Do you mean the materials available online? There's definitely lots of great material online, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence that schools and universities have gotten any better (despite becoming much more expensive).

bstar77 5y ago
I'm referring to things like "Nicole the Math Lady", "Kahn Academy" and other supplemental education resources. Even Wikipedia can get you on the right track with any topic. Since I homeschool my son I don't know if the schools have gotten better. I took an accelerated Calculus class one summer. My parents spent hundreds of dollars on a VHS calculus set to supplement the class because it was moving too fast for me. That was the difference maker in me passing. Today, getting that info is trivial and available to everyone.