TOBY JOYCE,
Madam, - Dr William Reville's theory of "Why the middle classes go to college" (Science Today, October 24th) does not help very much by way of explanation.
After all, why should the child of an unskilled worker have a different attitude to the child of middle-class parents? To say that middle-class parents place a higher value on education seems to me to be plain wrong. It is also unfair to most parents of working-class families, who seem to me to value education just as much as the middle class.
I suggest that the peer group is the determining factor in a young person's decision to aim for higher education. Peer groups have always been more powerful than either parents or teachers, all the more so since the phenomenon known as "youth culture", or in its worst manifestation "yob culture". This explains why rural children are much more likely to go on to higher education, since peer groups are more mixed in country schools.
It also explains why study groups and programmes such as Headstart are successful, because they undermine the influence of the peer group. Peer groups will share similar goals and ambitions, and where the focus is on immediate earning in the workforce, higher education will be seen as unattractive.
This explanation, however, may not be palatable to many class warriors, who would prefer to perpetuate the myth that the stupid but rich classes are depriving smart working-class children of their right to an education. - Yours etc.,
TOBY JOYCE, Navan, Co Meath.