How do families view kids' activities?

As the first edition of the book notes, the middle-class parents appeared to see organized activities as filled with "teachable moments" that helped cultivate their children's talents. As young adults, most of the middle-class kids articulated a similar perspective, readily linking their past activities to enduring life benefits. Working-class and poor parents who enrolled their children in activities generally did so to provide a safe form of entertainment—"something to do." As young adults, these kids sounded much like their parents, describing their organized activities as a diversion without long-lasting importance.

Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, 2d ed. "with an update a decade later" (Berkeley, CA: Univ. of California Press, 2011), ch. 13