Prevailing Prejudice Among a Small

¶ … prevailing prejudice among a small population of Americans regarding the status of immigrants and their children. One often hears that immigrants do not expect to have to learn English as part of their assimilation into American society, nor do they foster the same in their children. Many believe that immigrants come to the United States in order to live on welfare, and foster this sentiment in their children. Immigrants and their children are also believed to be doomed to low-paying menial labor. A study currently underway put paid to these prejudices and gives new insight as to the status of the children of immigrants to the United States.

The study, called the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) follows 5,262 teens and parents representing 77 nationalities. These subjects are primarily based in San Diego, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The subjects are followed over a period of time (8th and 9th grades, at high school completion and with another cohort sample planned for this year when the subjects reach their mid-twenties) and polled regarding acculturation, family and school, language and life experiences. Some surprising findings have been reported.

Fewer children of immigrants drop out of school as compared to all students in the same school districts. There is a greater degree of fluency in English than in the parental language, and it is interesting to note that the primary language of the home tends to atrophy as the children become more fluent in English. There is almost universally found an emphasis placed on continued education. It is also interesting to note that, on the whole, children of immigrant parents tend to perform better in school (based on grade point averages) that native born peers in the same school districts. There is a significant degree of ethnic segmentation of academic achievement -- for example, Chinese students tend to finish high school with the highest grade point averages while Latin American students tended to have the weakest performance in school. The highest drop out rate tended to be seen among Latin American students as well, primarily in Cubans, Dominicans and Mexican-Americans.