Migrant Tales’ insight: This piece is also relevant in Finland. Apart from putting them in special courses too easily, education authorities pay too little attention to migrants and minorities. This shouldn’t surprise us since they have little idea what it means to be Other in school.
Many migrant children feel excluded by their peers and silently endure prejudices, racism, bullying and discrimination. These cruel violations have the power to lock a child’s full potential away.
By Rockhaya Sylla*
One of my clients’ children said: “I don’t have any friends at school. I feel ashamed to approach other children because of my accent. In class, some children make fun of me or simply pretend that they do not understand me.”
She doesn’t talk about it to anyone though:” The teachers tell me to be patient and I can’t talk to my parents. I don’t want them to be worried about me.” Her parents have recently arrived and are facing similar forms of exclusion at work or when looking for housing.
Visit Migrants’ Rights Network website here.
“Where are you from?”
A friend recently told me: “my friend’s daughter goes to a private school and her friends refuse to believe that her father is a refugee because he has a very good job!”
It’s the same for children. For many, four little words make them feel excluded on a regular basis: “Where are you from?” And if when they respond that they are locals, they are asked again: “no, but where are you from?”
Continue reading “Migrants’ Rights Network: Why we should teach migration in schools”