Middle Class Children Are More Clever.

[Beorn]

Middle-class children have better genes, says former schools chief... and we just have to accept it

Middle-class children are more likely to be clever than those from poorer families because they have 'better genes', former Ofsted chief Chris Woodhead said yesterday. The comments caused an immediate storm, with critics calling them insulting and 'crazy'.
However, Mr Woodhead won support in some quarters - including the backing of an evolutionary psychologist, who said research had shown there was a link between class and average IQ.

Mr Woodhead called for a return to selection by ability at 11.
He suggested that grammar school pupils were more likely to be middle-class because 'the genes are likely to be better if your parents are teachers, academics, lawyers, whatever, and the nurture is likely to be better'.
In an interview with the Guardian, he argued that Labour had betrayed a generation by refusing to accept that some children were not suited to formal secondary education.

The Government had tried to make education 'accessible' rather than ' rigorous', he said.
Ministers should accept that some youngsters are simply born 'not very bright' and allow them to pursue practical training instead of forcing them into the classroom.
'I've taught, and I can still remember trying to interest children who had no interest whatsoever in English,' he said. 'They didn't want to be in the classroom.
'If I'm honest I didn't want them to be there either - because they were disruptive to children who did want to learn. What was the point?'

But political scientist Alan Ryan, who is the warden of New College, Oxford, criticised Mr Woodhead's views on genes as 'garbage'.
'All the evidence is that initial genetic endowment is pretty much random across social classes, and everything depends on a nurturing environment,' he said.
'The idea that you look for some genetic underpinning to go with it seems crazy.'

The Department for Children, Schools and Families also rejected Mr Woodhead's arguments. 'We do not accept the inevitability of pupils' socio-economic backgrounds shaping their attainment and their futures,' a spokesman said.
However, there was support from Dr Bruce Charlton, an expert in evolutionary psychiatry from Newcastle University.
'Chris Woodhead is basically correct, and there's nothing new about it,' he said.
Dr Charlton insisted that intelligence was 'mostly inherited', adding that family background and education 'probably makes a small difference but nothing like as much as people think'.

You could almost hear the half chewed cornflakes of a thousand liberals splattering on the page spread.

"How dare they! We all know that IQ and intelligence is not caused by genes, but by economic status...blah, blah,blah,blah,blah....Hitler proposed this under his...blah,blah,blah...next we will have people being gassed and murdered in the gas chambers...blah,blah,blah...."

But on a lighter note(and not so much dissent to be seen), it seems brainy women have better sex!

I wonder if that is because they have more money and are more financially sound?

Does anyone else believe this world is going to Hell and everyone seems to be all smiles and more interested in the size of their penises and breasts and how much sex they can have; how fat their stomachs are; how much money they earn; what people really think....blah, blah, blah?

The only time you can pry people away from their materialistic, arsehole induced fanaticism is when you go against the grain of accepted thought and dare to say that perhaps, just perhaps this might all be wrong.

[Rainraven]

This middle-class, brainy woman is feeling pretty happy right now

[Treffie]

Mr Woodhead called for a return to selection by ability at 11

I agree with this, the worst thing they could have done was to scrap the Grammar School system and replace them with comprehensives.

[Vulpix]

We could do with a definition of "middle class". What is intended by it?

[Alison]

Middle class to me is not poor and not wealthy. Just comfortable.

Interesting article though, and I tend to agree, but maybe that's cos I'm middle class and my children are the best.

[Vargtand]

We could do with a definition of "middle class". What is intended by it?

Indeed, as I've noticed that different countries have had different criterias for it.

Is it economic wealth for instance, is it interlinked with specific jobs or... ?

Edit: Or is it interlinked with academic prowess irregardless of the income of the parents and if or if not they have jobs?

This I think would be a saner argument as sure I can buy the argument that children to Academics may have a tendency for that sort of things. But I would never belive that the economic wealth or the type of job have any bearing on the genes of said child as money and jobs are not necessarely interlinked with education and can be a matter of connections and or luck.
And connections.. well most inteligent people lack social inteligence as it is so don't even try that

[Lulletje Rozewater]

You could almost hear the half chewed cornflakes of a thousand liberals splattering on the page spread.

"How dare they! We all know that IQ and intelligence is not caused by genes, but by economic status...blah, blah,blah,blah,blah....Hitler proposed this under his...blah,blah,blah...next we will have people being gassed and murdered in the gas chambers...blah,blah,blah...."

But on a lighter note(and not so much dissent to be seen), it seems brainy women have better sex!

I wonder if that is because they have more money and are more financially sound?

Does anyone else believe this world is going to Hell and everyone seems to be all smiles and more interested in the size of their penises and breasts and how much sex they can have; how fat their stomachs are; how much money they earn; what people really think....blah, blah, blah?

The only time you can pry people away from their materialistic, arsehole induced fanaticism is when you go against the grain of accepted thought and dare to say that perhaps, just perhaps this might all be wrong.

That reminds me.
Who of our forum members female/male would ask:"I want your eggs"

[Lulletje Rozewater]

You could almost hear the half chewed cornflakes of a thousand liberals splattering on the page spread.

"How dare they! We all know that IQ and intelligence is not caused by genes, but by economic status...blah, blah,blah,blah,blah....Hitler proposed this under his...blah,blah,blah...next we will have people being gassed and murdered in the gas chambers...blah,blah,blah...."

But on a lighter note(and not so much dissent to be seen), it seems brainy women have better sex!

I wonder if that is because they have more money and are more financially sound?

Does anyone else believe this world is going to Hell and everyone seems to be all smiles and more interested in the size of their penises and breasts and how much sex they can have; how fat their stomachs are; how much money they earn; what people really think....blah, blah, blah?

The only time you can pry people away from their materialistic, arsehole induced fanaticism is when you go against the grain of accepted thought and dare to say that perhaps, just perhaps this might all be wrong.

I am a typical example
IQ: 92.5
Sons: 3--My wife has IQ of 130
Peen:2.5 cm
breast size:deflated
Sex: forgotten
You see I am a typical: lower end 5th class(Fortis would say)

[Beorn]

We could do with a definition of "middle class". What is intended by it?

The criteria for entering the middle class, or at least being recognised as within the scope of being middle class, depends upon your career and the money you earn; the set core of cultural values and mannerisms you uphold and adhere towards; education and so forth.

Classifying people by class is still very easy to do, but people often place themselves above or below the actual class they are, often retaining the same identity they were brought up in.

More claiming middle-class status

The proportion of people who say they are middle-class has risen by nearly half in 40 years, a report says. Forty-three percent of people surveyed said they were middle-class, compared with 30% of people in 1966.
But most - 53% - said they were working-class. The report also suggests that many are confused about which class they belong to.
The survey, carried out for the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, saw 1,000 people interviewed in March.

Cont.

[Skandi]

he set core of cultural values and mannerisms you uphold and adhere towards; education and so forth.

Is generally more important than the money, a jumped up lower class person who has the money but not the manners will not be accepted into a middle class society, but one who has taken the time to learn how to behave but has little money will be more accepted.