I watched an interview on the show Conversations with Bill Kristol entitled “Our Civic Life in Decline” with Robert Putnam. Robert Putnam is a professor of public policy at the Harvard School of Government, a distinguished author, scholar, and political aid and commentator, among other things. This interview focused on the work that Putnam has been focusing on in the last few years, the decline of communities and the growing opportunity gap. Over the last fifty years our nation has gained getter technology, better acceptance of minorities (for the most part), higher life expectancies, etc. yet our sense of community has gone extremely down. Putnam discusses the fact that our nation was built on high social capital and high social trust, but currently our nation is lacking in those areas. The reason for this according to Putnam is the growing opportunity gap and the growing segregation of American society as a result. The current trends occurring in the US are that the kids from upper class families continue do better and better, while kids coming from working class families are doing worse and worse. Putnam points out that this has a lot to do with the differences in the times that America has faced. He Is referring to the 50’s when he grew up when the phrase “our kids” meant the kids of the town, when today that same phrase means only your biological children. People have stopped caring about the well-being of the kids in the areas they live in because they want their kids to have the best opportunities, which has led to this nation feeling like less of a community.
Today there are so many barriers that prevent kids from working class or lower income families from succeeding and or being on the same level as kids from college educated or upper-class families. One example that I did not even realize that was contributing to this problem was the fact that the majority, if not all, sports and extracurricular activities are “pay to play”. This means that there are so many fees and costs of equipment that often lower income families could not afford to let their kids participate. These extracurriculars are so important because they teach kids soft skills that will be useful in the workplace, as well as giving kids positive role models that are not their parents. The skills that the kids from upper class families receive from these activities put lower income kids at a disadvantage that is not realized in this country. Although test scores and schools do play a large role in the opportunity gap, there are people actively trying to solve those problems, but one of the biggest problems is that kids are not being given to learn teamwork and comradery. Putnam made a great point in that the opportunity gap was just as big in 1910, but the people of rural Kansas came up with public high school, which closed the gap and instantly helped the economy grow. Putnam urged the audience that there is a way to change the opportunity gap that we face today and that all it would take is people banding together and coming up with a solution like introducing public high school to the nation.