bullied English learning Chinese students, why would this be? Options

[boise]

I have never heard such a lame excuse as one twit below used: It is about money, not race. Baloney.

OAKLAND, Calif.--Li Jiang Hui is tired of being pushed around. The Skyline High School freshman has been bullied ever since he stepped on campus last September. Some would call him an easy target: he's short, small boned, sweet-faced and a freshman. He is also a recent immigrant from Hong Kong who is learning English at school, a fact that may be making him and other English learners on campus prime targets for bullying.

In the past three months Li has been verbally threatened and physically harassed in the hallway; had his pockets frisked and his bag searched in the bathroom; and had his bus pass stolen.

"The last time, two bullies threatened me and went through my bag in the school bathroom, while their friend stood outside the door to make sure no one was coming," Li says.

There were 212 English-learner students at Skyline last year, and 46 of them were Chinese-speaking. Eleven of these Chinese-speaking students and their parents came forward last month, saying they have been repeatedly bullied. Li and his friends were among the group.

While the targeting of English learner students reveals the ongoing problem of bullying, the hopelessness and frustration these students and their parents feel exposes another reality: the lack of support services and resources for non-English speaking immigrant families whose children have been bullied. Twenty-five percent of public high school students in California are English learners, and many of them are also in schools that don't have bilingual staff or specialized resources.

Bullying is not a new phenomenon. Its prevalence in high schools has been widely reported, and it is perceived by most to be an unfortunate yet unavoidable part of growing up. According to the last national analysis done on school bullying, 14 percent of high school students in the United States report being victims of bullying.

Some experts claim, however, that this number is much higher for Asian-American students. Isami Arifuku, a researcher with the Asian Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center in Oakland, says that one out of three Asian students involved with their organization report being bullied.

A recent report by The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families found that harassment of Asian-American students in schools is greatly underreported. Due to fear and a lack of trust, students and parents do not report bullying, especially those students who are recent immigrants and limited English-proficient, according to the report.

Li and his 10 bullied friends did not turn to administrators or to their teachers at Skyline for help. Their interaction with teachers and counselors was very limited, and they didn't think it would make a difference if their teachers knew, Li says, so they decided to turn to each other. Together, they tried to devise ways to avoid being bullied, but when it continued, they eventually turned to their parents.

The teens' parents attempted repeatedly to have a meeting with school administrators about the issue, but felt they were brushed aside.

Frustrated, the non-English speaking parents turned to another Skyline parent for help, who was also the Chinese-speaking family liaison at their children's former middle school. The liaison became the spokeswoman for the Skyline parents. "They didn't listen to us, so I contacted the Singtao newspaper," says the parent, who wishes to remain anonymous. The Chinese-language newspaper she contacted covered the story, and administrators agreed to a meeting the following week.

Parents and students voiced their frustration at not having an in-language liaison to turn to for help. They also wanted to understand why their children were being picked on by African-American students. Administrators decided to bring in Youth Together, an on-campus youth advocacy group, to help temper tensions between the Chinese students and the African-American students who were bullying them.

The school also suspended several bullies and is considering expelling them.

Tommy Reed, a staff organizer with Youth Together and a former Skyline student, cautions people to not look at bullies and bullied students as two separate groups. "Some of the students who are bullying [students] on this campus were bullied," he says. "I was an African-American student at this campus, I was bullied, and I had to bully back, just to survive. People are going to do what's done to them."

Abigail Sims-Evelyn, a life skills and history teacher at Skyline, believes that the targeting of Asian students by African-American students has to do with a mutual lack of knowledge. "It has a lot to do with what I call good old ignorance. There is a disconnect," she says.

Skyline junior Antwan Carminer, a friend of one of the accused bullies and an admitted former bully himself, doesn't think the issue is race. "It's not about blacks robbing Asians. It's about money. Some people are poor, and some are fortunate. Asians, they have money," he says.

Speaking little English may be the primary reason students are targeted. "If you're going to rob somebody, you don't want to get told on," Antwan says. "So If they can't speak English, and they don't understand, they will be targeted if they have money."

As a result of the disclosure by the 11 bullied students at Skyline, changes are underway to address the lack of resources for limited-English students and parents, as well as the tension between different groups of students. Youth Together is campaigning for both a Spanish-speaking and a Cantonese-speaking parent liaison, for more buses and adult supervisors on the buses, and for the development of workshops about Asian and African-American history.

Skills coach Sims-Evelyn says that students don't know "the history of solidarity between African-Americans and Asians... Until we fill in those gaps and help children understand on that level, then we will have this kind of reactionary behavior."

Li, however, has only one request: that the kids who bullied him never come back to school.

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_articl...92979ac6831e221

[Mid-Night_Sun]

"It's not about blacks robbing Asians. It's about money. Some people are poor, and some are fortunate. Asians, they have money,"

then it does have to do with race. hes pretty stupid to say it isnt about race, then generalize all Asians to having money.

but then again, what can you expect? lmao

[toronto_chinese]

i will take revenge whenever i see those blacks or whatever in hong kong

[wRiter Reverie]

Speaking little English may be the primary reason students are targeted. "If you're going to rob somebody, you don't want to get told on," Antwan says. "So If they can't speak English, and they don't understand, they will be targeted if they have money."

I think this is the main reason. That, and that they are afraid to do anything to the whites.

Li, however, has only one request: that the kids who bullied him never come back to school.

Good man. No need to have fancy explanations and excuses; they were wrong, they should get kicked out.

[LaoShare]

Cultures clash.

Boys in N America are brought up with western cowboy mentality.
To deter bully long term is fight back anyway you can and bring up the 2nd generations that can stand up for themselves.

We can appreciate what guys like BC have to go thru daily.

LaoShare survived so can you.
Go to Indonesia, they will show you what real bully is!
Who do you go to Tate-tale then?

Reporting does not work here in N America, unless you prepare stay in the safety zone all your life. Once you get out of your pimp cars or your fantasy computer games, you are nothing but a chunk of death meat.

So guys, if you want your girls to look up to you, you should know what to do.
At lease gain more meat to your skinny bones or get as buff as you can.
Make more friends; any colors; who cares. And always stay in a crowd. No gang!

[liu]

just dont carry valuables shood solv the prob

[Thanol]

Skyline junior Antwan Carminer, a friend of one of the accused bullies and an admitted former bully himself, doesn't think the issue is race. "It's not about blacks robbing Asians. It's about money. Some people are poor, and some are fortunate. Asians, they have money," he says.

Speaking little English may be the primary reason students are targeted. "If you're going to rob somebody, you don't want to get told on," Antwan says. "So If they can't speak English, and they don't understand, they will be targeted if they have money."

Racial profiling!

[UnZipped]

the asian community is just too small in the US. If the numbers are larger, thingz will be different. Well, kinda agree with LaoShare, asians just gotta shed that "I-am-an-easy-prey" look.

[Jaimu-Jaimu]

Is this a nation-wide problem or just one in this particular area?

[JingKe]

i dont think this happens often overall. i mean, there are so many chinese coming to North America to study English and most experience no problem. trust me, the majority of white people in north america are decent.

its just a couple of idiots.

[soltung]

yes...but the bullies in the article are not white...they are african...

and yes...chinese are definitely bullied by african-americans wherever they meet...


>

i dont think this happens often overall. i mean, there are so many chinese coming to North America to study English and most experience no problem. trust me, the majority of white people in north america are decent.

its just a couple of idiots.

[chilli21]

are those bullies supposed to be some gangs?

[toronto_chinese]

yes, black people are too energetic since they use to be chased by lion, tiger, kayote back in africa. Since they don't get chased in north america( except by polices) that's why they have to bully people in order to make a good use of their almost unlimited energy.

[Jasel]

yes, black people are too energetic since they use to be chased by lion, tiger, kayote back in africa.  Since they don't get chased in north america( except by polices) that's why they have to bully people in order to make a good use of their almost unlimited energy.

are you serious???

[LaoShare]

yes, black people are too energetic since they use to be chased by lion, tiger, kayote back in africa.  Since they don't get chased in north america( except by polices) that's why they have to bully people in order to make a good use of their almost unlimited energy.

are you serious???

Poor Jasel. Put up with such BS all day long.

[GaleHarold]

"It's not about blacks robbing Asians. It's about money. Some people are poor, and some are fortunate. Asians, they have money,"

then it does have to do with race. hes pretty stupid to say it isnt about race, then generalize all Asians to having money.

but then again, what can you expect? lmao

All that crap about money is bull crap. The truth is, Asians are easy targets.

[juwanFromTaiwan]

2 OMG...

yes, black people are too energetic since they use to be chased by lion, tiger, kayote back in africa.  Since they don't get chased in north america( except by polices) that's why they have to bully people in order to make a good use of their almost unlimited energy.

[kunomchu]

I'm an ABC but I got picked on in elementary school cuz of my poor english. My grandmother who only speaks chinese raised me up to preschool. I had to take ESL to "fit in". Kids are harsh. I can't count the many times I have heard Ching Chong Chang from white and black kids while ESL was washing away my fluent mandarin. My mandarin is still pretty good but I tend to mix english with mandarin now. I can still fluently understand mandarin but speaking it is about hard, especially with the mixing of english. Im still surprise that I can still understand alot of Shanghainese.

[juwanFromTaiwan]

Richard Pryor and later Dave Chapelle used that in their comedy material. I have it on DVD somewhere. Not word by word but very similar.

are you serious???