Social Class

The business dictionary defines social class as the status hierarchy in which individuals and groups are classified on the basis of esteem and prestige, acquired mainly through economic success and accumulation of wealth.  The four most common classes are upper class, middle class, working class, and lower class.  Class is composed of three elements: property, prestige, and power.  Property is what you own and how you get it.  Prestige is the level of respect you have within your community.  Power is the control that you have over others.  When there’s a combination of all three of these things, there is guaranteed to be a social class.  Most of us started out learning about social class through high school and a lot of it was learned the hard way.  If you didn’t have a lot of money or play a sport, you weren’t the most popular or even in the popular crowd.  This can have an effect on kids.  Some people will be friends when they are younger and then as they get older they start to “lose touch” because one becomes more successful than the other.  It can be a hard adjustment for the person who doesn’t have the social status.  I dealt with this with my transition through grade school to middle school.  My best friend, Cassie, and I were what you would call “attached at the hip” and when we went to middle school, she continued cheering and I didn’t.  I was left out because she always hung out with cheerleaders.  Being upset over losing my best friend, I approached my mom about the matter and she told me to make a list of the most popular girls and we would put away until I graduated.  On graduation day, we pulled out the list and I realized I was friends with every one of those girls.  I’ve learned not to judge people and just because you think someone is better than you, it doesn’t mean they really are.