Social status (in my own words) is the idea that a person has a relative social worth in a certain context. For example in a class room a teacher has a high social status and therefore must be listened to. On the other hand, if that same teacher was stopped by the police for speeding, they would not have a relatively low status compared to the police officer and should therefore listen to the police officer.
Basically you are expected to treat some people with more deference than others based upon status signifiers like what role they have and what clothing they are wearing or how they speak or act towards to you.
I guess you could say it is a widely held belief that some people are better or more important than others.
How would you approach explaining that idea to a child? When is age would be too soon? When would it make sense to explain that it is a person’s social status is not always justified (i.e cops, bosses, parents)? Traditionally, I guess they would learn it by trial and error but I don’t necessarily think they would learn the idea that it is often abused to control others in a school setting since authority figures generally don’t want others questioning them.
Well first its not “social status” your describing but authority. Thats the word your looking for. I feel like authority is pretty cut and dry, those people have the ability to punish you if you don’t comply.
Some people have more friends than others.
Part of that is how friendly they are. Part is how pretty they are. Part is how smart they are and how able they are to help others. But part is how much they can afford to throw fancy parties, go to expensive schools, or get good health treatments.
The more friends you have, and the more friends your friends have, the more you can get done in society. If you want to start a business, get elected, or other things that require a lot of other people’s support, having lots of friends helps.
Sure it’s not fair. What you can do is figure out how to be a good friend to those around you and work well with others. This includes things called “allyship” and “solidarity” as well as just being nice to people and having useful skills.
That is much simpler and kid friendlier way than I could come up with. Kudos! A minor nitpick is that use the word friend implies that they are a peer, which in the case of role based status like a teacher doesn’t really fit.
I guess what I am looking for is a way to explain the double standard where its thought of as okay teacher or parent to yell but it is frowned upon if a kid does it.
I guess what I am looking for is a way to explain the double standard where its thought of as okay teacher or parent to yell but it is frowned upon if a kid does it.
Oh, well that’s not social status as such. It’s also “okay” in mainstream society for a police officer to yell at a corporate VP situationally, even though the VP has more buddies and more money and a better health plan and a hotter partner than the police officer does.
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Have you ever considered that that is just an improper and wrong world view. Like literally what the fuck Are you actually out here judging people based on their jobs and or economic backgrounds and using that to decide how you interact with them. Everyone should be treated equally until they have proven they do not deserve to be treated with such a level of respect.
Have you ever considered that that is just an improper and wrong world view.
I agree that it is theoretically the wrong way to view the world. However it is how the world works, if you treat a cop like some people treat a service worker like a waiter you could easily be shot.
Are you actually out here judging people based on their jobs and or economic backgrounds and using that to decide how you interact with them
Personally, I do try avoid ranking others via social status but it is pervasive in society. If you don’t understand that people unfairly judge you based on your income, class, gender, role, or any other factor, it makes dealing with issues like sexism and racism a lot harder.
I’m right and you’re wrong. I’m big and you’re small. And there’s nothing you can do about it.
Ask the child, how much friends doest he/she have; then ask her about that famous kid in class.
That’ll stir any one up real quick 🤣
PS: The aim is not to “walk over your child’s feelings”; rather, showing the effect of social “scores” in real life…
Through this, he/she will start pointing out why the famous kid is “that famous”,
- how does this kid treat others
- how the kid talks
- background (parents, neighbour-hood, etc)
With the aim of finding out why the other kid is famous… a fun miniature project 😊
See your star chart, social status is the same. If you litter you have low social status.
