Moving homes, moving cities, moving states. Most people have experienced at least one of these events, but moving countries is a whole new step in someone’s life, especially when they’re a teen.
Immigrating to another country isn’t unheard of, and while adults make the decision to immigrate for their families and their own well being and future, their children don’t have much of a choice. Being separated from their family isn’t easy, especially if they are still young.
Junior Samantha Ortiz shares how her identity has changed since she first arrived
“I’ve adapted more to American ways. I don’t really know many things from my home country anymore. I still know my native language, which is spanish, but I don’t speak it as much as I speak english,” Ortiz Said
The disconnect from one’s native culture can make teens feel like they belong more in their newfound culture, not the culture they were born in.
Feeling like one doesn’t belong can create feelings of isolation and of resentment towards their family. School, especially high school, is the place where these feelings develop and grow into a bigger issue. Adrienne Nolan and Nick Teetsov are two school counselors that work with high school immigrant kids to help them make it through school and plan their future.
“I think from a non-college perspective thinking more about students that I’ve had in the past…I’ve worked with students who have had, I would say, sometimes a different process understanding their identity…coming from a different country to now coming to the United States and what does that mean for them and their experience specially culturally. For example, where do they call home? How is the US different from their home country?… I also think a lot of those students really want their peers here to understand where they come from…it’s a longer process [to form] the connections that they make here…and what expectations they have for themselves, how they live their daily lives, etc. While at the same time there are a lot of similarities oftentimes but there’s just sometimes a major adjustment to living in a new place with different cultural expectations, different societal norms and things like that,” Teetsov said
The role that not only counselors but schools have on the well being and mental health of immigrant kids is enormous. The stress and expectations that are put on the kids is a lot, not only worrying about their legal status but also school and the need to meet their parent’s expectations.
“I think that for anyone if you’ve grown up in a certain culture and part of it is moving from one culture that you’re used to to another, but it is also the move in general. Anyone would have a hard time in their teen years…and when you bring the language and religion and other aspects that come with moving countries just adds another layer of difficulty,” Nolan said
Teens often don’t have a say where their family is moving to live which can cause a lot of anxiety and rejections. New place, new people, it’s a reset of their current lives. Parents could mitigate that by keeping their kids informed on where they’re moving. According to Psychiatric Times “Children whose parents kept them involved and educated about the immigration decisions reported lower levels of anxiety.”
Immigration is done for the good of the kids but it comes with its consequences and if not treated right.
