In two

worlds:

school-leavers immigrant

The clash of cultures at home and at school leaves many young immigrants confused and at an additional disadvantage when they start worK. R. D. Chapman, head of the Department for teaching English as a second language, City of Birmingham Education Committee, looks at the problems they face.

Considerable numbers of immigrant children atf

passing through our schools to seek employment an^ to take their places alongside the other members o' our community. There are West Indian children witf their outwardly happy-go-lucky attitude to life an' Pakistanis

and

Indians

with

their

serious,

qutf!

manners.

immigrant living in England is subjected to man! pressures of which the average English person is n" aware. For the Asian child particularly there is tbl problem of trying to live within the influence otwo, often conflicting, cultures. At school, and late' at work, the immigrants strive desperately to conform and to do as those around them, and at home the! need to please their parents and to be good SikbHindus or Muslims. A child brought up in a Muslim household, for ft stance, is bound up in many strict religious laws whft' continually impinge on his or her everyday life. Man' children come from homes where Purdah is maft tained and where mixing of the sexes, past the age ? puberty, is forbidden. Girls are expected to keep the' limbs covered?and even their face when in mix^ company?and yet, outside the home, these childr^1 see mini-skirts, bikinis, public kissing and many otbc sights immodest in their eyes. Even their homes afl invaded by such sights on television. Gradually, tV standards are developed in the household: father at1' the sons make more contacts outside the home? mainly to social opportunities offered by emplo) ment?but at the same time great pressure is put the female members of the household in order tbJ they will not be influenced by undesirable Westef culture. An

New ideas Asian children

are trained in a tradition of respe' for their elders and obedience to parents, but th?;

children often

girl arrives at London airport life. Photo: Daily Mirror

An Indian new

at the start

of

a

at school, readily absorbing new ideas, brought into conflict with their parents. A 8l!

wants to abandon the

favour

traditional

of school uniform

(no

trouser

garment1

^ pressure from

Social handicap?a

teachers

here

an

Perhaps

cause

stress

of

on this matter)?father refuses as he sees attack on his beliefs. Permission is sought for a late evening for a school social occa-

sion?this again

can

cause

declined. Then there

a

family upset when

are those girls who, when at school, had fair amount of freedom, but, again, not enough to enable them to take a full part in the normal extraschool activities, now, as school-leavers, find themselves kept strictly at home as their parents do not

a

want them to go to work. done well at school,

Many of these girls who mastering, perhaps, shorthand, typing or a nursing course, are now virtually Prisoners of their homes?just waiting obediently for the inevitable arranged marriage?possibly to a newly arrived immigrant who has little or no English. Cases have been met where girls due to leave school have suddenly decided not to speak any more English? when they are questioned, it is found that it has been arranged for them to marry and as one girl put it: mY husband-to-be cannot speak English and I must n?t be better than my husband, so I cannot speak anY more English.' have

to ^ttitude many *n

women

cases

only

the male members of

a

Muslim

^rnily come to England?and, consequently, conquerable numbers of boys are without any feminine lr*fluence. This often shows in their outward appearance?the missing buttons, frayed

cuffs and somelrnes the under-fed look caused, no doubt, through ack of a balanced diet. But possibly the worst effect the all-male household is that of the youths' Peculiar attitude towards women and to sexual mat,ers in general. Even at school it is difficult for these ?ys to establish a normal attitude towards girls, as "^migrant parents are not keen for the boys to mix socially with English girls and such activities as ancing are severely frowned on. "en the domestic duties imposed on these lonely oys are considerable. Some boys are known to cook the meals?see the man off to work by about a-ni-, then clean the house, attend to younger , r?thers and relatives, deliver them to their schools, eet

them

^eturn *y>

at

dinner-time,

to school and

to go to the

then,

shops

to

prepare

midday meal,

a

at the end

purchase

of the school food ready for

meal! ^,e evening the various dietary laws of the immigrants tend ^ven tnake life difficult for them in this country. Certain

o?ds e

must be

canteen

avoided. But which foods served in

One young Hindu would from the work's canteen as someone ad told him that beef fat was used in all the recipes! t

only fruit

ft

e

r

acceptable?

?

J*Slc ?

are

insecurity

feet that

many immigrants intend to stay in for a limited period adds to the basic SecUrity that the immigrant child feels. Some childn are led to believe, for year after year, that they

ngland only

Social

handicap?a

cause

of

stress

will be

going home to India 'in a few months' time'. Every coloured immigrant, whatever his nationality, undergoes considerable strain when seeking employment. He knows that in some places he won't be considered, even though academically he is better than the English boy competing for the same position. This knowledge often causes a child to interview badly through anxiety and nervousness. Some children, due to the short time they have been at school in England, are unable to obtain necessary paper qualifications to enable them to take courses of further education, and consequently children of high intelligence find themselves in jobs well below their intellectual capacity?this alone is a tragic waste of human talents. Immigrant school leavers quite naturally want to obtain skilled or 'white collar' jobs ?but sometimes through prejudice, and often due to lack of an intimate understanding of English and the background of our language, these jobs are not obtained. Other immigrant children aware of the limited types of employment open to them lose the incentive to progress educationally?especially when they see their well-qualified compatriots acting as general labourers. a job has been obtained, the young immigrant may meet prejudice which can sap his self-confidence and hinder his social integration. Some immigrants become the target for unkind practical jokes which, in themselves, may not stem from any form of colour prejudice but invariably are interpreted as such by the victim.

Once

Expecting prejudice

It is sad to note that many immigrants?West Indians in particular?arrive in England expecting to encounter colour prejudice and consequently are extremely sensitive and often look for an insult, when none is intended. Some children are aggressively defensive and this unfortunate attitude serves to isolate them further. Most immigrants report that workmates generally do not speak to them?it is generally assumed (in most cases quite wrongly) that immigrants are not able to speak English. Often an immigrant who can speak a reasonable amount of English still finds that the intimate language of the factory or workshop is different from normal English and is not easily understood.

There are those immigrants who have a great desire to establish social contacts outside their own cofli' munity, but often through fear of a rebuff or through insufficient English are never able to achieve thisInevitably and unfortunately then, the immigrants are turned inwards on themselves to form their varioU5 racial groups and to follow their own social and cultural pursuits. This, however, is not sufficient fof the young immigrant who wishes to enjoy the same activities and opportunities as the English youtb5 around him. Frustration, fear, despair and disillusion' ment all play their part to make life difficult for tb^ young immigrant who, because of many social preS' sures, tends to live on the fringe of our society"' looking at, but unable to grasp firmly, the new 1# around him and yet reluctant to reject the old.

In Two Worlds: Immigrant School-Leavers.

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