Knowledge, behavior, and attitudes of sixth-grade students toward family life education

Although certain exceptions may be noted with respect to sex and type of school, generally lower socioeconomic students obtained lower mean scores on the knowledge and attitude sections of the survey instrument than their counterparts from the higher economic strata. Disadvantaged children from lower socioeconomic levels are reared in an atmosphere hardly conducive to study. Their homes are overcrowded; the children are often hungry, obtain insufficent rest, and possess little interest or motivation for the future--they just live for today. The lower socioeconomic child suffers most when he comes to school. His experiences in living have not prepared him for the demands of the typical school. Shaped by his environment, seeing himself as a person of little worth, he is called upon to conform and communicate. His value system that was bred in deprivation shows sharp contrast to the established "middle class" value system held by the school. Furthermore, disadvantaged children enter school with habits and attitudes that may conflict with many of the traditional modes of teaching. They have had few opportunities to learn the relationship between effort and achievement or to observe that learning has its own reward. Educators have a responsibility to provide the best type of family life education program to meet the needs of all youth. Innovative and challenging ways must be found to make family life education programs relevant to all socioeconomic strata. It would appear essential that educators should possess a thorough knowledge of the economic, social, and cultural conditions that exist in the area in which the educational process is to be conducted.