Parenting to Win: Who Pays for the Helicopter?

Intensive Parenting – helicopter, lawnmower, snowplow, free-range – is often pursued by white and privileged parents as a way to protect kids from failure and to ensure that they end up on the “winning” side of the vast economic inequality in our country. However, the ways that white and privileged parenting norms impact entire school communities often end up perpetuating existing disparities.

We’re joined by Dr. Jessica Calarco, Associate Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, who studies inequity in family life and education. Her recent book, Negotiating Opportunity: How the Middle Class Secures Advantages in School, highlights many of the challenges that come with socioeconomically diverse schools.

How we show up as integrating parents, how we navigate the line between asking-for-assistance and asking-for-(expecting?)-accommodations, and how we parent our own children has an impact on the other students and families in the school.

Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Links:

• Jessica Calarco. Associate Professor of Sociology at Indiana University.
• Dr. Calarco – Negotiating Opportunity: How the Middle Class Secures Advantages in School
• Mental Floss discussion of Dr. Calarco’s study of New Yorker cartoons
• Dr. Calarco – Free Range’ Parenting’s Unfair Double Standard
• Viviana Zelizer – Pricing the Priceless Child
• Sinikka Elliott & Sarah Bowen – Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It

Use these links or start at our Bookshop.org storefront to support local bookstores, and send a portion of the proceeds back to us.

Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us podcast@integratedschools.org.

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Courtney Mykytyn. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by Kevin Casey