Public vs. Private School Barriers?

[Mike Deneen]

There is a nice article in this week's issue about a program where LCA and Roosevelt Elementary team up to learn about local government and history.

Here is a link: http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/read/20 ... each-other

The program is intended to break down a perceived "public vs. private school barriers". The article depicts these kids as being from very different backgrounds....practically like foreign exchange students. One teacher is quoted as saying "There was some apprehension at first...but they soon found out they are 8-year-olds just like us".

As a former Catholic school kid, I found the article a bit baffling. When I was growing up on the west side of Cleveland during the 1970s and early 80s, I spent lots of time with neighborhood public school kids. When we moved to Lakewood in 1983, I became friends with LHS kids. It really wasn't an issue.

My experience seems very different from what is going on today. Among the possible explanations:

*Since the Cleveland Schools were collapsing at the time, a pretty high percentage of kids in my neighborhood went to Catholic school. I'd guess it was at least 50 percent. Neither side was really a "minority" or viewed as strange to the other. However, the public kids did mock us for being forced to wear neckties. They also enjoyed the "vacation" they had during the 1978 and 1979 teacher strikes....until they had to make up days in the summer.

*Skyrocketing tution over the past three decades may have stratified the education system. My grade school tuition was less than $200, so lots of working class kids were in Catholic school. My high school tuition topped out at $1800 in 1985-86 (at the time we though that was incredibly high) Nowadays, private schools are incredibly more expensive, and thus perceived as "rich". The number of kids enrolled is dropping, which makes them a minority. Perhaps these factors lead them to be ostracized.

*Today's kids seem much more programmed....there are lots of organized acitivities for kids (largely via school) , but perhaps not as much unstructured playtime to spend in the neighborhood. My interactions with public school kids were largely via street sports such as baseball or football.

I'd be curious to hear other people's opinions. When you were in school, did you hang out with kids from other schools? If you have kids today, how do they view kids from other schools?