Tutor Says She Can Tell Whether A Student Is Middle Class Or Rich By The Way Their Parents Talk About Them
Parents don't realize that their word choices exemplify class distinctions, but they do.
StockPhotoDirectors | Shutterstock As much as we might try to act like class differences don’t exist for kids, money is a huge determining factor in how children are raised, what opportunities they’re exposed to, and what they’re taught to expect from life. While all good parents love their kids, it turns out that class distinctions even affect how parents talk about their children.
A tutor shared her perspective on TikTok, drawing on personal experience. While she noted that all parents face the same challenges, she said the amount of money they have dictates the way they are able to react. This is how she can tell if students are middle-class or rich.
The tutor said she can tell if a student is rich or middle-class by the way their parents talk about their options for the future.
In a video, a tutor named Coach Toni explained, “People who don’t come from money, or don’t have a lot of money, will always tell their kid that they have to conform to everything society puts out to them,” Toni explained. “They usually use phrases like, ‘That’s the way the world works,’ and they force their kids to fit in.”
On the other hand, wealthy parents approach their kids’ education very differently.
“My clients who have money, who come from money, they are the ones that ask me how or where can their child fit comfortably in society and how can I prepare them for that?” she continued. “Both groups do want their kids to graduate from high school, and most of them do also want their kids to graduate from college,” she shared. “But the super-rich see that as a formality and not as a sentence for where your life has to go. They prepare to provide a pathway for their child that meets their neurodivergences, caters to their neurodivergences, or caters to their abilities or lack thereof.”
Meanwhile, middle-class parents encourage their children to do the best they can in the mold that society has set for them.
“Those who do not have that much but have enough to pay me will tell their kids, ‘Don’t waste my money,’” she said. “And they will tell their kids that Coach Toni is here to make you be like everybody else so you can be successful. So you better take advantage of it.”
The money rich people have opens doors for them that middle-class parents can only dream of.
It makes sense that rich parents would see more opportunities for their kids and believe the world would adapt to them instead of the other way around. On the other hand, middle-class parents just hope that their kids will be able to follow the path that the world expects them to follow. They know there aren’t as many opportunities available for their kids, and they’re preparing them for that.
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A Pew Research Center survey found that people who have more money experience a lot of advantages in life. They’re “generally happier, healthier, and more satisfied with their jobs.” They’re also more likely to feel happy about their education, family, and housing.
The fact of the matter is that wealthier people just have a leg up in life. There are so many more options available to them in almost every area of life. This allows them to be flexible and work with their children instead of trying to get them to conform. It’s sad that middle-class people don’t have those same advantages.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
