Education:Latina Teens Often Turning Away from School By Marisa Trevino -
DALLAS (WOMENSENEWS)--It's hard for 17-year-old Gretchen Cervantes to
remember what life was like before 1998--before her life revolved around
babies crying to be fed, disposable diapers needing to be changed,
cartoon reruns demanding to be watched and scattered toys requiring to be
put
away.
"I dropped out of school when I was 15," the Dallas teen admits, almost
embarrassed. "I got pregnant and I was having pains and I had to go to
the hospital during final exams. I didn't get the chance to take the exams,
so I failed."
When pressed as to why she didn't return to school after the baby was
born, Gretchen admitted in an interview that she wanted to drop out to stay
home to take care of the baby; her second child was born the following
year.
Gretchen's story is not unique.
A recent report by the American Association of University Women
Educational Foundation, "Si Se Puede! Yes, We Can: Latinas in School,"
indicates
that Latinas hold the unenviable distinction of having the highest dropout
rate of any other racial or ethnic group.
The organization's study is based on a review of available research and
a
synthesis of published data.
Educators are frustrated by this situation, especially in light of the
latest U.S. Census figures that show the Latino population is now the
nation's
largest minority group. Additionally, Latinos comprise the student
majority in 10 of the nation's largest school districts, according to the
National Center for Education Statistics.
Educator Says Schools Failing Latinas
This growing population means that more and more education
administrators will come cara-a-cara (face-to-face) with this problem. And,
like most problems with adolescents, the family, community and school
system each
play a role in positive and negative outcomes. "I think the current
educational system is failing a lot of students, not just Latinas," says
Dr. Yolanda
Cruz, superintendent of Dallas Can Academy, a Texas charter school
system catering to dropout students who return to school. She adds,
however,
that educators have a tendency not to challenge those failures when it
involves Latinas. "There are lower expectations of them."
Sometimes those expectations also are imposed by families and friends.
In the American Association of University Women report, young Latinas were
found to be very susceptible to the wishes of peers and family. The
report's
researchers wrote that young Latinas were afraid of being considered
"too educated" or being perceived as "acting white."
Too often, they opted, instead, to give in to the demands of their
friends to skip school and to their companions' urgings to have sexual
intercourse.
"I had a boyfriend that always wanted me to skip school," confessed
19-year-old Dorothy Guerra, the mother of a toddler. "So, I skipped and
I wasn't making no good grades, and I dropped out. I did nothing, just
stayed at home. It was just a waste of life," she said in an interview.
Since
then, she has returned to school.
Family May Need Teens to Earn Cash, Not Degree
For some Latinas, family demands make going to school difficult. With
many Latino families living at or below the poverty level, every dollar is
needed to survive. For that reason, some teen Latinas see more of a value
in
working than going to school.
"For many Latinas, dropping out of school is not a frivolous matter,"
says Anne Lockwood, honorary fellow with the Wisconsin Center for
Educational
Research. "They feel pressed to contribute to the family."
Most experts attribute that strong sense of familial duty to the deep
family-oriented Hispanic culture. However, experts point out that it is
far from the intent of Hispanic families to have their children fail in
school. They say the majority of families want their children to excel. It
is
the economic and social positions of the family that cause some Latinas to
weigh the value of a distant degree against the immediate need of making
money
to help buy food and pay bills.
And then there is the other home battle that young Latinas must contend
with: the traditional mindset.
"The Hispanic female is seen as the one who is going to raise the
children and be the housewife," says Superintendent Cruz. "I see a lot of
abuse,
physical and emotional, of our females by their families."
Latinas who are lucky enough to maneuver their way around the usual home
and community pitfalls that tempt them from graduating from high school
must
overcome one more obstacle before graduation is a reality.
The school atmosphere. Schools have proven to be the breeding grounds
for some of the most damaging situations Latina girls experience when it
comes to affecting and developing their self-esteem and self-confidence,
the
university women's study found.
The study's authors wrote that while in school Latinas faced routine
racial stereotyping, low expectations and threats to their personal safety.
The
Latina teens reported that they continually had to counter teachers' and
counselors' assumptions that they were gang members simply because they
spoke Spanish.
Dr. Angela Ginorio, co-author of the Si Puede report, argues that
schools must work with the families and communities of the Latina
population to
build upon the natural strengths the girls take to the classroom.
"We need to recognize cultural values," says Dr. Ginorio. "And help
Latinas harmonize these values with girls' aspirations to education and
learning." To achieve this balance, the study proposes that educators
should:
* Promote careers that are not racial or gender stereotypes
* Recruit more teachers from the Hispanic community
* Educate families about the long-term value of a college education
* Demonstrate that the worlds of young motherhood and schooling can go
hand-in-hand
"Latina students are very powerful," says Superintendent Cruz. "They
just don't know it."
Author's Note: Both girls interviewed for this story have returned to
school.Marisa Treviņo is a Dallas-based free-lance writer who regularly
writes
on Latina issues and contributes to local public radio.For more
information, visit:
American Association of University Women report:
http://www.aauw.org/2000/latinabd.html
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