Over the past several years, the number of immigrants moving to the U.S. has increased tremendously, causing the effect of immigration on today’s economy and society to be a highly debated topic. What often gets overlooked is the issue of wellbeing in immigrant children. People tend to think that the younger one is, the easier it is for them to adapt to a new environment. However, it has been recently discovered that a child’s stress level and social awareness becomes highly elevated when moving to a new place. They are torn between two lives, school and home. They face multiple challenges such as, living in two separate worlds, learning a new language, and confronting prejudice.
Kailin Koch begins her blog post in CUSLAR, with the quote by Nelson Mandela: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” She later goes on to state “Not only do schools today offer unequal resources and often poor education quality, to undocumented students and families, they can become aggressive, intimidating, and sometimes explicitly exclusionary.” What does this tell us about our society? Nothing reassuring, that’s for sure. Targeting children for the enforcement of immigration policies is atrocious and detrimental to our future. We are now faced with the question of how teachers and administrators should work to integrate these immigrant children into the American lifestyle comfortably. In the conclusion of her study, Suarez-Orozco takes the approach “As a nation we must prepare teachers to address immigrant students’ distinctive needs. Teacher education programs and school districts should develop curriculum and professional development programs that recognize the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse immigrant students and the challenges teachers confront in instructing these diverse students.” This is no one-training-session ordeal. It will take years for districts across the nation to master these skills but in opening the door to such ideas a change is already in progress. The next step is to learn and understand each immigrant individual’s needs and tailor to them specifically. There is a wide variety in the adaptation and outcomes of immigrants in school. Teachers must foster to the child’s reading, math, and writing level as well as understanding the child’s learning style. What are Other Countries Doing? Many countries have begun to implement policies to ensure a swift transition for young immigrants of their country. In the report Integrating Immigrant Children into Schools in Europe sponsored by the European Commission, many countries have been recognized for their readiness to integrate and accept immigrant children into their educational systems. Between 2007 and 2012, Finland, Germany, Estonia, Spain, Greece, and Portugal have implemented policies to ensure that immigrant students succeed in the national education system while simultaneously taking some classes in their mother tongue. This allows students to feel comfortable and accepted, which later translates to quicker learning and adaptation. Their culture and language remains preserved. The new information becomes an addition not a replacement. There is much controversy with the immigration policies at the moment, but a child’s right to education should never be questioned. Suarez-Orozco speaks on the ways of integrating this new way of teaching by saying “Healthy learning communities must recognize diversity as a resource for learning rather than as a problem to be eliminated.” When students are encouraged and embraced for their strengths, they begin to believe that they can be just like any other student and achieve success. In a democracy, it is integral to protect the equality and opportunities of young children who immigrate to a new country. It is our country’s obligation to ensure this Interview with Rabbi Awsan A story about transitioning to the U.S. at age 11. An opposite approach to the ESL program. Rabbi wishes he had just been put into classes with all the other students instead of spending 4-5 hours a day trapped with the same few people.
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