Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 9 - Sylmar

When looking through the November 23^rd, 2012 issue of the LA times I came upon an article that actually made me feel better, a rare feeling these days when reading news.  The article by Marisa Gerber titled “Low-income students get crash course in college preparation” dealt with the difficulty of low income students in preparing for higher education.  In the article, which can be found at the following link http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-college-summit-20121124,0,855445.story, the author discusses how a program has been started in Sylmar (an area I hadn’t heard about until reading this article) where high school students are able to take a special course to improve their skills for writing their personal statements and offers assistance and counseling to help through the difficulties of choosing a college and completing applications. 

Sylmar is located in the San Fernando Valley area of the city of Los Angeles and has a population of about 87,000 people. The area is predominantly Hispanic representing over 50% of the population. The city itself has had some trouble with violence and gang related activity with some reports of shootings taking place very close to the high school, which was the reason for my reservations about visiting the city. This often-neglected part of Los Angeles has a problem with students who generally feel under-appreciated and where the majority of the students do not believe they have the ability to get into college. A huge factor is the monetary issue as these students typically come from low -income families and the emphasis is on going to work as soon as possible to help with the income of the family.  The majority of the students score very low on national tests and are automatically considered not worthy for higher education.  But some are considered “better than their numbers” (referring to their test scores).  These students are the target audience for College Summit a national nonprofit corporation, committed to increasing the number of low-income students who go to college. The course they offer covers such topics as due dates, course requirements, and most importantly scholarship opportunities to help these kids start on a path that will lead to a better future for them and ultimately for their families.  This program is an amazing tool for anyone who wants to attend college but has no ideas on how to go about getting there. Many of these students will be the first ones in their families to attend college; therefore they have little or no guidance at home.

            In our lectures we discussed the idea of class differences, which have a lot to do with the differences of race and ethnicity. The majority of these students are Hispanic and come from underprivileged homes. The culture here is one that encourages the youth to drop out of school and to join a social group.  This process moves them from being ‘nerdy’ to being ‘cool’.  In class we talked about how a person’s Socioeconomic status (SES) has a lot to do with their class ranking and those who are considered to be lower class have in general found it more difficult to have any sort of upward mobility in today’s society. Weber stated that class is not only about economic differences but also about cultural differences regarding prestige, religious affiliation, and occupational status. If this is true then the lower classes will always have a problem trying to move up into the higher classes, as they will always be regarded as inferior. This can be seen with the socially stratified groups, which means that people can be separated by access to resources and levers of power. So people can have the same amount of money but belong to different classes (both can have a million dollars but those who earn it differently or come from different backgrounds are always seen as part of a different class). This has always been the trend throughout history, for example the bourgeois and the aristocracy. The children of the Sylmar community have always been considered part of the lower class because of their racial and cultural identities and although it will be difficult to change their status, they have the ability to improve at least their own standings in society by attending college. A college degree opens up new fields and new opportunities in which they can improve the quality of life for themselves and their families.