Privilege

I was reading the newspaper today and saw the article about the young girl who sent a rejection letter to Oxford University. She cited the interview as being too slanted towards the the public school types. In the UK Public school for some reason is an historical term that actually denotes a private fee paying school as opposed to a school run by the public sector. Just in case you get confused later on. Now pay attention!

Just as a footnote this student is applying for law and if she is already opposed to public school types (see above) she is not going to settle well into a legal life as the legal profession in this country is full of the buggers.

Anyway. Oxford was at pains to point out that 59 % of it's students were of the state education variety. Which is interesting as the private schools only educate 7% of the child population (according to the Independant Newspaper.http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-hensher/philip-hensher-rejecting-oxbridge-isnt-clever--its-a-mistake-6292041.html)

Now this little piece is all about privilege and so I am going to wade in. Strangely enough to start with as a kind of back handed compliment to private  education. It is no surprise that private schools supply a disproportionate number of students to Oxbridge. Otherwise just what is it all those poor mummies and daddies are coughing up all that unnecessary dough for?

I don't necessarily have anything against children from privileged backgrounds. It is not their fault they were born to money. What I do have a problem with is the advantage their parents are able to buy for their children. As an example, every now and then we get a little flurry of 17 year olds coming to visit our hospital  to try and get a feel for a life in medicine. All well and good. It is usually organised by one of our consultants types. However when I asked where they went to school they all went to the same one and the last time I asked they were all at school with the consultant's children. I use this as an example. It is not unusual. There was a movement in the Palace of Westminster to grant internships on a lottery basis when it turned out turned out that the very helpful young man in the office was actually an old school friend of the honourable members children and used the contact to get  the job. 

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with using your contacts to your advantage, of course, but when those contacts are ones you have collected due to a privilege you have not earned it rather irritates me. 

I should finish this by saying that I, in fact refer to people more privileged than me. I had a very comfortable middle class upbringing. In my defense I have done just about everything in my power to waste the opportunities my privilege has given me!