7 Up

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you were born into a different family? How would a different background affect your future? These are the questions the 'Up' documentary series explores. What originally started out as a lone film flourished into a whole series that goes into the depths of a variety of individuals lives. If you want an overview of the series check out Rebecca Mead's great article on The New Yorker. 

The main difference in the lives of the children, outside of the home, is their schooling. The different types of schools are as follows:
Public School

A dormitory in a children’s orphanage supported by charity

 A private boarding school

 An Exclusive kindergarten

 A fashionable school for girls

The difference in schooling affects their day to day lives as you will see in a couple of examples I have provided below. I have only really had experiences with public schools in my life. Within this past year I have switched to a boarding school and I have to say the differences are pretty drastic. 

Here are the different types of exercise the children receive:

Classical Ballet

 Free Movement

 Recess

Dinning style

Formal

 Casual

 Semi formal

Future Plans

The kids were asked what they wanted to do when they grew up and here are a few of their responses. 

The structure and responsibility of the children's lives has a big impact on on their mindset and future. Their expectations from life seem to lie within their social class. For example the children whose families were from a higher social status all had plans to go to university. Whereas the children from families from a lower social status typically planned to go into the workforce. 

In my experience, the difference between schools and the lifestyle that accompanies those schools is enormous. Transitioning at the age of 16 from living at home to living in a dorm has been quite a change. Living away from your parents requires a whole new level of maturity and responsibility. The children in this documentary living away from home at the age of 7 must reach that level at a much younger age. This creates a huge difference between the children, thus I fully expect their futures to be guided by their socioeconomic background.