Differences in Socioeconomic Status The middle school in a rural community of 9,000 residents has four school-sponsored dances each year. At the Valentines dance, a coat-and-tie affair, six eighth-grade boys showed up in rented tuxedos. They had planned this together, and their parents, among the more affluent in the community, thought it would be cute and paid for the rentals. The final dance of the year is scheduled for May, and it, too, is a coat-and-tie dance. This time, rumors are circulating around school that everyone is renting a tux and that the girls are getting new formal dresses. The parents of three boys are, according to the grapevine, renting a limousine for their sons and their dates. These behaviors and dress standards are far in excess of anything previously observed at the middle school. Several students, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, have said they will boycott the dance. They cannot afford the expensive attire, and they claim that the ones behind the dress-up movement have said that only the nerds or geeks would show up in anything less than a tux or a formal gown.

Differences in Socioeconomic Status
The middle school in a rural community of 9,000 residents has four school-sponsored dances each year. At the Valentines dance, a coat-and-tie affair, six eighth-grade boys showed up in rented tuxedos. They had planned this together, and their parents, among the more affluent in the community, thought it would be cute and paid for the rentals. The final dance of the year is scheduled for May, and it, too, is a coat-and-tie dance. This time, rumors are circulating around school that everyone is renting a tux and that the girls are getting new formal dresses. The parents of three boys are, according to the grapevine, renting a limousine for their sons and their dates. These behaviors and dress standards are far in excess of anything previously observed at the middle school. Several students, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, have said they will boycott the dance. They cannot afford the expensive attire, and they claim that the ones behind the dress-up movement have said that only the nerds or geeks would show up in anything less than a tux or a formal gown.

Resource: p. 53 of Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society
Read the Differences in Socioeconomic Status section on p. 53 of the text.
Write a 350- to 500-word response addressing the following points:

List three social factors that most impact the scenario.
Justify your answer with an example from the scenario for each selected factor.
Conclude by suggesting a viable solution to the scenario.