“First generation students are at even greater risk for dropping out if they lack adult, school, and community support and some of their parents face additional challenges such as unfamiliarity with the school system, making it difficult for them to advocate for their children and teach their children to advocate for themselves” (Perreira et al., 2006, as cited in Wexler, J., & Pyle, N 2012).

Focusing a little bit on the ‘immigrant communities in our country’ mentioned in Goodman (2018, p.56), there are many things to consider especially as an educator when working in such a unique environment in which “26% of children and youth in the United States are children of immigrants or are themselves immigrants” (Goodman, 2018, p.56) over 5 million of which live with at least one undocumented parent or caretaker. Parents of first generation students may not understand the school system, and therefore may not know their rights as parents and those of their child. This way parents are more at risk of getting taking advantage of, which reflects on their children who may also be less likely to self advocate for themselves or for self-advocacy to be taught to them due to uncertainty and confusion coming from too many avenues of their life. For example, as Goodman (2018) points out, even in efforts of some schools to inform immigrant parents of their rights, the reason why many don’t show up is induced by a growing fear of hyper vigilance that leads many (even the citizens who aren’t at risk) to question the possibility of legal issues or deportation.
So… How do our students feel? What are they actually going through? How can we understand, or give them a voice?
Interestingly, I’ve been listening to many podcasts relating to this topic and whole heartedly believe in the necessity to create awareness and by doing so- exposing the truth and injustices of children and families of not only NYC (of course) but all over the US. There is a huge theme of intersectionality here… We all should strive to understand how/that these various systems of power impact each and every one of us. There is no “one size fits all” nor a “one explanation fits all” kind of solution. We are not just one thing, we are made up of an abundance of layers specific to our individual experiences. So we must make our classrooms more involved, welcoming, and a place that supplies care and attention in order to provide for all possible contingencies of students and families and hopefully reduce rates of things such as high school dropouts, segregation, the school-prison pipeline, etc.