There’s a new (to me) meme going around. Apparently it’s a test given to college students illustrate privilege taken for granted by many people. I suppose it could be a helpful tool for a few but I think it largely confuses “privilege” with “wealth.” While the two are certainly not mutually exclusive, they are far from synonymous. In that same vein, I think the meme is probably ineffective in its purported goal, simply because I think (hope??) most people can easily see the material privileges they have in their life. It’s the more subtle, but equally important, privileges that often require an outsider to open our eyes to. That said, I’ll give it a go anyways. The statements that applied to me at age 18 are bolded, maybes are italicized:
If your father went to college before you started
If your father finished college before you started
If your mother went to college before you started
If your mother finished college before you started
If you have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
If your family was the same or higher class than your high school teachers
If you had a computer at home when you were growing up
If you had your own computer at home when you were growing up
If you had more than 50 books at home when you were growing up
If you had more than 500 books at home when you were growing up
If were read children’s books by a parent when you were growing up
If you ever had lessons of any kind as a child or a teen
If you had more than two kinds of lessons as a child or a teen
If the people in the media who dress and talk like you were portrayed positively
If you had a credit card with your name on it before college
If you had or will have less than $5000 in student loans when you graduate
If you had or will have no student loans when you graduate
If you went to a private high school
If you went to summer camp
If you had a private tutor
(US students only) If you have been to Europe more than once as a child or teen
(International question) If you have been to the US more than once as a child or teen
If your family vacations involved staying at hotels rather than KOA or at relatives homes
If all of your clothing has been new
If your parents gave you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
If there was original art in your house as a child or teen
If you had a phone in your room
If your parent owned their own house or apartment when you were a child or teen
If you had your own room as a child or teen
If you participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
If you had your own cell phone in High School
If you had your own TV as a child or teen
If you opened a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
If you have ever flown anywhere on a commercial airline
If you ever went on a cruise with your family
If your parents took you to museums and art galleries as a child or teen
If you were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
The “computer at home” questions limit this to people under around 30.
Yeah. If the backstory of the meme is correct it’s aimed at college students who are (mostly) under 30. Though, if someone in their mid-40s had a first “computer” was the same as my first computer and they got it in the household around age 17 or 18 (when the computer was fresh on the market), they would also be able to affirmatively mark the statement.
The cellphone in high school one is what I think really puts the age cap on it.
We had a computer in my home from the time I was 13.
I am 37, so that was 1983.
Wow, this is really interesting. I always assumed I was a child of privilege, yet home computers weren’t invented when I was a kid! I grew up with a typewriter. I didn’t have a credit card until well after graduating college, nor did I have a phone or TV of my own (or even a stereo) when I lived with my parents. Plus, I went to public school and my first car was an old clunker that had been my grandfather’s. A 1973 Plymouth Duster. How uncool.
On the other hand, we had tons of books in the house, my parents took us on trips all around the world, and we visited museums regularly. I always figured that made me “liberal elite” not “a child of privilege.”
Who knew?