This is scientific Americans 60 second science. I'm Erica Barris.

Got a minute?

Kids from different economic backgrounds behave differently in classrooms.

For example, working class kids are less backgrounds behave differently in classrooms.

For example, working class kids are less likely to ask for help from teachers than are their

middle class counterparts.

And when they do ask for help, they're less aggressive about it. That's according to a study that

followed students from the third grade through the fifth published in the journal

American Sociological Review. Part of the difference in how kids act comes

from the guidance they've gotten at home.

As a rule, working class parents coach their kids to work out problems on their own.

And if the kids did ask for help, it was in subtle ways, like sitting quietly with a hand raised.

Middle class kids, their parents urged them to be proactive, even to interrupt their teachers

for help. The result is that teachers were more likely to attend to the

assistant seekers and louder class participators, which left working class kids behind

and magnified inequalities.

So the working class child's behavior,

which they and their parents see as respectful,

could impair their success in the classroom

and prevent them from joining their classmates

in higher social classes.

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific Americans 60 Second Science, I'm Erica Barris.

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