Stretching Our Thinking

    Before taking this quiz I had already known that I grew up very privileged and am still privileged today. Going through the checklist it became even more apparent to me just how privileged I am. I feel like because of this privilege I have gained a lot of empathy for many of the students that I have taught throughout the years. It is so unfair for anyone to have to experience some of the items on that checklist, but I especially always think about my students and other children who have had to or are currently experiencing some of these things. I feel like this is why it is so important to learn about what we can do to recognize that there are groups of people who experience this every day and to try and learn how to best acknowledge this and help these marginalized groups of people. 

Before taking the quiz, I did know ( and continue to realize) that I am beyond privileged. The quiz did confirm what I thought. Reading through the checklist, there were some statements that I would have predicted are indicators of privilege. However, there were many statements that surprised me. It is so unfair that some people have to experience these inequities. I'm sure it's another example of my privilege to think that it's unfair, and it's frustrating to know that inequities continue to persist. With so much knowledge about inequity, why can't "being better" as whole be a reality?   

I chose to take the "How Privileged Are You?" quiz and I scored in the "You're The Most Privileged" range. As an adult, I now realize how privileged I was growing up in a family that protected me and provided me with everything I needed to be safe and successful. I never had to worry about food, gas, college, rent, my skin color or religion. Some may think that growing up this way would create a barrier for me to connect with less privileged students, but it has actually allowed me to create stronger connections with students. I am very conscientious about sharing my privileged childhood and am aware of how most students don't live life with the same advantages.

I chose to take the "How Privileged are you?" quiz. The one thing that resonated with me was the amount of statements that I was able to check. As I read through the list, I really started to think about friends, colleagues and students who may be taking this and be unable to check these same statements. It made me stop and think about my own privilege and how this could impact my thoughts and feelings on others without really knowing it. Being aware of your privilege is the first step in showing understanding for others. 

For this week, I took the How Privileged Are You? Quiz and scored a "You'er Quite Privileged". After taking the quiz and reflecting on my life, I do realize that I did have a lot of opportunities available to me that others may not have had. It is important to acknowledge this and work hard to help educate others so we can try and change this. 

I took the Privileged checklist quiz and my results were, "you're quite privileged". What resonated with me were some of the items that were on the checklist. Many people out in the world face daily obstacles that I haven't experienced because of my privileges. It's my responsibility to understand my own privileges and listen to others who experience oppression. 

What resonated with me was that I was able to clock about 3/4ths of all the statements. I am not surprised by how many statements applied to me, given that I am a white heterosexual male. The rest that I was not able to check were more of a "First World Problem" such as frequent traveling. It did open my eyes to see some specific struggles that the unprivileged go through that I know will be much more cognizant of.

I was not suprised that the result of the privilige checklist was that I am "Quite Privaliged". I checked 60/100 privaliges and came out more priviledged than 71% of all quiz takers. As I was going through the checklist I was suprised by all the different privileges I take for granted. I have always realized that being a white educated heterosexual male living above the poverty level has made me extreamly privileged. Most of the priviliges I didn't check are becaues I have struggled with mental health my whole life. But, I have always had the support and resources to help me manage my symtoms. Because of my mental health history, I have been made aware of how being less priviiliged can make mental health struggles be a huge challenge to a persons ability not only to magage symtoms, but to become economically self sufficient. But even worse is that the lack of the many privileges I have, are big reasons why other people struggle with mental health. It makes me realize how difficult it has to be for others who have few privileges and mental health issues.

I took the Buzzfeed checklist How Privileged Are You? and was not really surprised by my results.  I scored 61/100, which was more than 73% of the quiz takers.  The checklist revealed the following:  You're quite privileged. You've had a few struggles, but overall your life has been far easier than most. This is not a bad thing, nor is it something to be ashamed of. But you should be aware of your advantages and work to help others who don't have them. Thank you for checking your privilege. I also read the Quick and Dirty guide and given my checklist results, I feel I need to challenge the systems that privilege some and oppress others and push back a little.  I am aware that privilege exists but would need much more information to be able to expand my information as to how to best work with oppressed groups and support them in a way that is helpful.

Great article on how to understand privilege!  I especially resonated with the section on privilege decribes what everyone should experience.  I have as a teacher probably said in the past something like "doing this is not an expectation, it is a privilege"  It now makes me think about perhaps choosing different words depending on what I was referring to.    Everyone should be treated the same way... yet they are not. 

I chose the BuzzFeed checklist and was surprised to discover that I had scored 47/100 "You checked more than 41% of quiztakers".You're not privileged at all. You grew up with an intersectional, complicated identity, and life never let you forget it. You've had your fair share of struggles, and you've worked hard to overcome them. We do not live in an ideal world and you had to learn that the hard way. It is not your responsibility to educate those with more advantages than you, but if you decide you want to, go ahead and send them this quiz. Hopefully it will help." 
What I am most shocked is that I feel more privileged than my score reflects. This helped me identify times in my life where I struggled, but it also highlights the deeper financial privileges that I have had being white and marrying a white man. I do not feel that I would be where I am today if I had not done this. 

I learned a few things from this article. As a white woman, I knew that I was not in the category of "white, male and heterosexual" which, for me, already is a disadvantage. Although women have come far in this country and globally, I still feel that we are in a power struggle with men. And, I'm sorry to admit this publicly because I may be the minority who think this, but after centuries and decades of fighting for equality, I'm very turned off by the fact that trans men are coming into female athletics. But that is not the focus of this topic of "privilege." 

I really liked the analogy of the bike riders. I guess I have always thought that people in this country have equal opportunity. When someone from a poor, Black neighborhood like Oprah can become a multi millionaire (if not a billionaire at this point), I have some faith in our system. But, I see from my own personal experiences that not everyone is Oprah. Not everyone has the same drive and motivation. Some of this may stem from the fact that being poor, white or black, not having enough food, not having a reliable home, not having clothing, etc. would not allow someone to focus on their education if they are constantly fighting for the basic necessities in life. 

I don't believe in socialism and never will, but I do believe that we need to have more social programs in place so that people who don't have the necessary means to compete equitably in this world - whether this inequity is due to poverty, race, religion, gender, etc. - have the means to do so. While we can't offer a Harvard education to everyone because of the money involved, perhaps our governments can start focusing on providing a college education to those who are able to receive one and to do it for free if money is the only reason that people are not betting themselves through education. Until we are all equal in the educational world, we cannot be equal in the real world. We all need skills to earn a living. We also need more good jobs that will be open to all people to give everyone a chance to live the American dream.