African Immigrant Families' Views on English as a Second Language (ESL) Classes Held for Newly Arrived Immigrant Children in the United States Elementary and Middle Schools: A Study in Ethnography

This article is published with the permission of the authors.Twenty immigrant families from different Anglophone, Francophone, and Lusophone African countries were interviewed about their views on English as a Second Language (ESL) classes offered by the school systems in the United States to newly arrived immigrant children. Whereas nine families (mostly from Francophone and Lusophone Africa) found the ESL classes useful, eleven families (mostly from Anglophone Africa) found them to be useless because they did not help to improve their children's English. Some respondents were frustrated because ofthe criterion used in selecting students to participate in the program, and also because their children were kept in the program long after their English proficiency had improved. Most respondents saw inclusion within the mainstream classes, instead of separate ESL classes, as a better way to increase students' English competency.This material is the copyright of the authors. Please contact them for information about reproduction or reuse

Parents’ Perspectives on Curbing Gun Violence among Children in Three Counties in Indiana

The occurrence of fatalities associated with gun violence among children, as reported in the media, makes studying gun violence and its prevention among children a priority. The purpose of this study was to investigate parents’ views on gun violence and whether gun safety education should be provided in schools. Thematic analysis was conducted on open-ended questions and descriptive statistics for closedended questions. Of the 200 participants, 79% (n= 158) of them indicated that gun safety instructions should be taught in schools, whereas 21% (n= 42) disapproved. Forty-five percent of the 158 participants who agreed to gun safety education suggested that police/military personnel teach gun safety to children. Overall, the parents questioned believed that gun safety education would help children to understand the seriousness of this issue. Some parents were not in favor of gun safety education. However, because the overwhelming majority was in favor of it, it is important for stakeholders in schools to consider offering it as one possible way to reduce gun violence among children

"Food is Environmentally and Culturally Specific!": A Preliminary Qualitative Study on U.S. Immigrant Parents' Perceptions of School Lunch

Children spend most of their day hours in school, so the dietary choices they make during school days are important for their childhood development and later life. This research examined food choices among immigrant families with school-age children in Indiana, USA. Open-ended questions were answered by 52 immigrant parents in 2017. Parents who answered the questions had children in classes ranging from kindergarten to grade 12. NVivo 11 was used for the initial analysis of the dataset, and several themes were identified. After the initial analysis, the data were categorized into major themes to condense the themes. Thirty-eight (73%) of the respondents indicated that their children ate school lunch, 14 (27%) indicated that they prepared lunch for their children to eat at school, and 39 (75%), mostly from non-industrialized countries, indicated that their children ate their home-country staple foods for dinner and on non-school days. Parents indicated that schools are serving the needs of immigrant children by serving varieties of foods during lunchtime

Childcare Issues and the Pandemic: Working Women’s Experiences in the Face of COVID-19

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted everyday life. Not only has it assailed the world’s populations with millions of deaths and cases, but COVID-19 has also ravaged global economies and affected the lives of women and their children. The purpose of this study was to detail women’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and the solutions they came up with to deal with the problems they encountered. Method: Data collection occurred in the midwestern United States, in the State of Indiana, from August 2020 to August 2021. Sixty-six women participated in the study. The study used open-ended survey questions. The data results were combined, analyzed, and constructed into themes based on their similarity in their subject matter. The researchers identified four main themes. Findings and Conclusion: Results indicated that, for some of the mothers, it was a struggle to be at home with their children at all times. Unique experiences faced by some expectant mothers who were already mothers, and thus had the experience of prenatal care pre-COVID-19, had to grapple with the fact that they were not allowed to come to their prenatal appointments with anyone. Participants complained about cooking all the time, with some needing to use the internet to look for new recipes. Poor eating habits by some children during the pandemic led to some parents needing to come up with a schedule for family members regarding breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to curtail the COVID-19-related acquired poor eating habits. A shared experience from the study revolved around childcare policies and schedules. The results suggested that enacting a paid childcare leave, developing flexible working hours, and changing how employers conduct work reviews are critical to alleviating some of the burdens working women face during school closures during the pandemic. Finally, participants suggested identifying better ways to provide and prioritize childcare to lessen gender inequalities within the workforce

"We were victims of our families' uncooperative behavior": Problems Faced by School Dropouts in Rural Ghana

ABSTRACT Using the narratives by school dropouts, their parents, and teachers, this paper discusses the causes and consequences of dropping out of school. The paper demonstrates that some rural children in Ghana do not attend school due to cultural conventions on politeness, divorce, male privileges, poverty, the domestic role and economically viable ventures performed by children (with participation in such chores often overshadowing care and support for them), and weak teacher-student support system which prevents teachers from recognizing the factors hampering the children's education. To rectify this precarious situation, the paper calls on educators, policy makers, the Social Welfare Department, parents and students to work in concert with each other

“Food is environmentally and culturally specific!”: a preliminary qualitative study on U.S. immigrant parents’ perceptions of school lunch

Children spend most of their day hours in school, so the dietary choices they make during school days are important for their childhood development and later life. This research examined food choices among immigrant families with school-age children in Indiana, USA. Open-ended questions were answered by 52 immigrant parents in 2017. Parents who answered the questions had children in classes ranging from kindergarten to grade 12. NVivo 11 was used for the initial analysis of the dataset, and several themes were identified. After the initial analysis, the data were categorized into major themes to condense the themes. Thirty-eight (73%) of the respondents indicated that their children ate school lunch, 14 (27%) indicated that they prepared lunch for their children to eat at school, and 39 (75%), mostly from non-industrialized countries, indicated that their children ate their home-country staple foods for dinner and on non-school days. Parents indicated that schools are serving the needs of immigrant children by serving varieties of foods during lunchtime

Childcare Issues and the Pandemic: Working Women’s Experiences in the Face of COVID-19

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted everyday life. Not only has it assailed the world’s populations with millions of deaths and cases, but COVID-19 has also ravaged global economies and affected the lives of women and their children. The purpose of this study was to detail women’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and the solutions they came up with to deal with the problems they encountered. Method: Data collection occurred in the midwestern United States, in the State of Indiana, from August 2020 to August 2021. Sixty-six women participated in the study. The study used open-ended survey questions. The data results were combined, analyzed, and constructed into themes based on their similarity in their subject matter. The researchers identified four main themes. Findings and Conclusion: Results indicated that, for some of the mothers, it was a struggle to be at home with their children at all times. Unique experiences faced by some expectant mothers who were already mothers, and thus had the experience of prenatal care pre-COVID-19, had to grapple with the fact that they were not allowed to come to their prenatal appointments with anyone. Participants complained about cooking all the time, with some needing to use the internet to look for new recipes. Poor eating habits by some children during the pandemic led to some parents needing to come up with a schedule for family members regarding breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to curtail the COVID-19-related acquired poor eating habits. A shared experience from the study revolved around childcare policies and schedules. The results suggested that enacting a paid childcare leave, developing flexible working hours, and changing how employers conduct work reviews are critical to alleviating some of the burdens working women face during school closures during the pandemic. Finally, participants suggested identifying better ways to provide and prioritize childcare to lessen gender inequalities within the workforce