Having a kid who plays violin is more about the parent’s status than the kid’s. This may help the kid learn to eventually jockey for status as adults. But I have to question how much that improves their quality of life, if that’s what we care about.
I wouldn’t say “Jockey for status” as much as “give him tastes and references that make it easier for him to come off as high status / associate with high-status people” (those might be ways of saying the same things, but “jockeying” calls to mind dominance and put-downs).
I expect it would improve their quality of life, all else being equal, but I don’t know if Violin lessons would be a good way to improve one’s status (probably far from the best one). I agree it’s probably mostly about the parent’s status, and the kind of kids the peers wants their kid to associate with.
Having a kid who plays violin is more about the parent’s status than the kid’s. This may help the kid learn to eventually jockey for status as adults. But I have to question how much that improves their quality of life, if that’s what we care about.
I wouldn’t say “Jockey for status” as much as “give him tastes and references that make it easier for him to come off as high status / associate with high-status people” (those might be ways of saying the same things, but “jockeying” calls to mind dominance and put-downs).
I expect it would improve their quality of life, all else being equal, but I don’t know if Violin lessons would be a good way to improve one’s status (probably far from the best one). I agree it’s probably mostly about the parent’s status, and the kind of kids the peers wants their kid to associate with.