"Sixth grade madness" - Parental emotion work in the private high school application process

This ethnographic look at sixth graders and their parents as they apply to private high schools highlights the emotion work parents do as they push th eir children through a process they dislike. Parents manage their own emoti ons, forcing themselves to believe that the private school system is necess ary, so that they can manage their children's emotions: motivating them, pr eparing them for disappointment, and comforting them. This emotion work cha llenges and deepens social, cultural, and human capital theories by problem atizing the transfer of capital resources. It shows that, unlike the automa tic inheritance of money, the inheritance of other forms of capital is done through a great deal of work, tension, and anxiety for parents and childre n. It also demonstrates, through the exploration of an extreme case, the pa rental work involved in securing a good education for children and the dile mmas parents face trying to motivate children and make them feel confident and loved.