Migrant_Workers

Migrant Students and Their Families By: Kristy Gavason Table of Contents Table of contents....................................................................2 Introduction...........................................................................3 Research............................................................................4-7 Conclusion..........................................................................8 References.............................................................................9 Introduction Migrant work is not a new subject of discussion here in the united states, but it is one that has changed over time slowly growing .During the early years when views were much different in regards to Migrant Workers they were denied education and entry to the United States which only favored certain parts around the world and setting such high standards for immigrants that some could simply not meet the requirements. People would battle the two sides of this argument and laws would be implemented and then removed, which did nothing to help the problem until it was excepted and seen that it would never go away and these migrant workers were given certain rights here in the United states. “By denying these children a basic education, we deny them the ability to live within the structure of our civic institutions, and foreclose any realistic possibility that they will contribute in even the smallest way to the progress of the nation.(Justice thurgood Marshall, quoted in plyler v. Doe, 1982, p. 231)(Green, 2003) However the education of the Migrant workers and their children is still at an all time low and poses problems socially, politically, and educationally according to Green(Green,2003). The social and educational problems stem from the students missing school which causes gaps in their education from one school to another or in between grade levels, socially it has to do with poverty, not having a stable home to raise their children in, and not having proper medical care, and also the language barrier, plays a big role in it as well. Research What is a migrant worker' A migrant worker is one who travels around the world harvesting crops, they can also be identified as farm workers. This field of work consists of many different racial backgrounds such as: latinos, African-Americans, Afro-Caribbean, Anglos, Jamaicans, Haitian Blacks, American Indians, southeast asians, and Puerto Ricans. These workers come from many generations doing this type of work according to Green, (Green, 2003). During the season the Migrant families travel to many different places and most follow a “pattern” or their called “streams” the East Coast Stream consists of Mexican Americans, Mexican Nationals, Anglos, Jamaicans, Haitian Blacks, and Puerto Ricans. The Mid-continent Stream has Mexican Americans, Mexican Nationals, and American Indians; the route begins in south Texas and goes through the midwestern and western states. Then there is the West Coast Stream which includes Mexican Americans and Mexican Nationals and a small percentage of Southeast Asians; this stream begins in California and goes to Oregon and Washington. The work that is done by Migrant workers is only seasonal and temporary, so to survive and make money they travel these three streams and around the world, thus making getting an education or having any type of stability out of the question. They work from sun up to sun down leaving the children to take care of each other and some work in the fields along side their parents.When the crops have been picked and winter is coming the families travel back to the “home base” and harvest what is growing during the winter months. They receive pay based on how much was harvested, so this doesn’t leave for much to be made and when the crops aren’t the best that year, there has been an abundence of rain, or the work is simply finished, and they are paid based on how much was brought him when harvested. Research Economic Status and its effects on the Migrant worker’s and their families' According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average Migrant worker earns under $ 8,500 a year (Government Accounting Office, 2000)(Green, 2003). When making this much a year and not having steady income all year causes many problems to arise for these Migrant workers, and not only is it the money but again the language barrier that contributes to their trails and tribulations along with lack of education and it isn’t just the adults who suffer its the children as well. Although as time as gone by there has been some help with making few resources available for these workers such as: Decoster Farms which helps with the hispanic populations of the Migrant workers, most of the these people however still live at or below poverty level according to Fernandez, Fernandez, and Davis( Fernandez, Fernandez, and Davis 1995). The Migrant workers economic status and also there doing this particular job contributes to their living situations, according to Kozoli, Osborne and Garcia who interviewed young migrant workers “home” for them depends on their values and priorities becoming “homeless” is a choice these families make to keep their family going( Kozoli, Osborne, and Garcia, 2003) But with this whole mentality of having nothing and nowhere to belong to in a sense seems to lead to the migrant workers just going with the flow of everyday life and flying under the radar of others due to their lack of communication with others outside this job and sometimes these problems can result in them committing crimes. Also they don’t have the education, to know better and this is due to their family moving so much to just try to make a living or not knowing the language which makes them unable to communicate with others so they adapt and do what they feel they need to do to survive. Research Education for a Migrant workers child' Children of Migrant workers have many challenges when it comes to school due to their life being filled with “homelessness”, poverty, and language barriers. The challenges from their “homelessness” are from going to different schools and being placed in wrong classes due to missing records, and their overall attendance, and social interaction with others outside of their family or farming community. However there have been Acts created to help these children, so that we can hopefully put an end to this problem one day but it takes one step at a time. One of these Acts was the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act. The McKinney-Vento Act Defines Homeless Children and Youths: “ The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act reauthorized as Tile X, Part C, of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, includes in the definition of homeless children and youths a wide array of circumstances. Explicitly included are children in migratory families who fit the categories of homelessness in the definition”( NCHE 2004). This particular Act gives these children hope and many opportunities to be able to succeed in life with the rights of children and youth experiencing homelessness due to migratory issues. In this Act migrant children and youth are eligible for services and ensured rights. These rights include: going to school, no matter where they live, or how long they have lived there, have access to the same public education, including preschool education provided to other children, enroll in school without a permanent address, enroll immediately and attend classes while the school arranges for the transfer of records, attend a public school and participate in public school programs with children who are not homeless, receive the same special programs and services if needed, receive transportation to school, continue in the school they attended before becoming homeless (McKinny-Veto Act)(NCHE 2004) Research This act is very beneficial for the children of migratory workers, however it is based on a case by case approval. Even though there has been Acts implemented to help these children many of them are still missing out on school and are working in the fields as young as six years of age. “One of the most significant causes of low educational achievement is the fact juvenile farmworkers simply spend too much time on the job” says Fingers to the bone: United States Failure to Protect Child Farmworkers, which was a paper issued by Human Rights Watch in June 2000 quoted by brown (brown, 2008). Also if the children aren’t in school and not in the field they’re left at home to take care of the younger siblings, however some parents view it as the juveniles can make more money to contribute to the family then going to school so they choose to keep them working and away from school. This causes the student to have many absences which then causes the student to fall behind academically and drop out from school before graduation causing them to not have a High School Diploma or the education to go and get a better paying job, even though most of these kids will continue this work and follow in their families footsteps. However there are programs to help guide these children work towards graduation such as: The University of Texas Distance Education Center: Migrant Student Program, this program offers courses approved by the Texas Education Agency that count toward graduation. There is also programs like the Geneseo Migrant Center of Mount Morris, New York, which offers services in areas such as health and education for migrant workers and their families in New York state (Brown,2008). There are so many programs coming to life to help these families which has proved the U.S. has come along way when dealing with this challenge. There is the start of technology being used to meet the needs and challenges of the migrant workers. There is one project in particular that Brown discusses that uses technology and its called The Anchor School Project, this project provides laptop computers for the migrant families who participate with this particular project and requires the parents to learn how to use the computer and they must agree to help all children in the family use the computer and it is meant to help the children keep up with their school work when away from school. also this program promotes that all children are equal shouldn’t be held to certain standards in regards to their backgrounds, as educators wee need to look at all children as equals who are willing to learn but need to be guided and yes some may need to be assisted more then others but are all capable of achieving. Conclusion Migrant work is not the easiest of jobs and certainly is one that is over looked. Migrant workers face a daily struggle that one must try to over come, however it isn't simple to do, there are many set backs when it comes to this style of work, and it usually builds on generations and is implemented at a young age that work comes before school due to a need to survive. There have been many laws and Act passed to help the migratory workers and their families to achieve through schooling. However there is still poverty highly among these families which causes health problems, social isolation, language barriers, but hopefully over time things will change with new programs coming around to help these families such as an The Anchor School Project which supplies the family with computers to keep the kids in school, while still being able to help support the family. References |Brown, M. (2008). Meeting the educational needs of migrant students. Retrieved from | |http://www.educationworld.com | |Fernandez, V, Fernandez, K, & Davis, G. (1995). A Hispanic migrant community assessment. Retrieved from | |www.culturaldiversity.org | |NCHE, . (2004). Migrant children and youths experiencing homelessness: rights and services through the | |mckinney-vento homeless education assistance act. Retrieved from www.seirtec.org | |Kozoli, R, Osborne, M, & Garcia, G. (2003). Migrant worker children: conception of homelessness and | |implications for education. Retrieved from http://margeryosbprne.weebly.com | |Green, p. (2003). The Undocumented: educating the children of migrant workers in | |america. Retrieved from http://www.eagle.tamut.edu |