by Li Keira Yin | 7 Apr 2021 | Americas, China, Contest winners, Contests, Culture, Educators' Catalog, Identity, Immigration, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Thacher School, Youth Voices
Born in China, I decided to study in the U.S. I love my home country but harbor guilt as I become less and less Chinese over time. Photo by Markus Winkler This story was a runner-up in News Decoder’s Ninth Storytelling Contest. Artist’s Statement: I grew up in...
Growing up means eventually coming to terms with one’s upbringing. Doing so can be especially challenging for young people straddling different cultures. In a five-stanza poem, Li Keira Yin of The Thacher School explores the contradictions between the world of her Chinese grandparents and her life at a boarding school in the United States. News Decoder helps young people around the world extend their horizons and learn to appreciate different viewpoints. Some have the advantage of confronting opposing outlooks at an early age, and Yin demonstrates her maturity in reconciling the inherent antagonism between her two very distinct cultures.
Exercise: Ask each student to identify a fault line within their family and to write an essay or poem that is sympathetic to each side.
by Alexander Nicoll | 12 Oct 2020 | Americas, Donald Trump, Europe, Government, Immigration, Nationalism, Politics, World
Donald Trump and Boris Johnson won power as populists, backed by angry voters. Now COVID-19 is exposing their shortcomings in the U.S. and UK. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) and U.S. President Donald J. Trump (L) in London, 4 December 2019 (EPA-EFE/PETER...
by Hanna Rahman and Sadie Dyson | 9 Jul 2020 | Economy, Immigration, Podcasts, Student Posts, Youth Voices
We wanted to learn about immigration. So Sabina told us her story about leaving Colombia for the U.S. to escape violence and embrace opportunities. To understand immigration, we must listen to immigrants as they tell their stories. In our podcast, we spoke to Sabina...
by Maya Barr | 6 Jul 2020 | Immigration, Refugees, Youth Voices
I’d gone to Chinatown before, but only when I looked closely did I see how waves of immigration have shaped its character and history. It is easy to take for granted the lessons one can learn just a subway ride away. I live in New York City, not too far from...
by Helen Womack | 1 Jul 2020 | Europe, Immigration, Refugees
The EU has been criticized for inconsistency towards asylum seekers. But some European nations have admitted refugees — who are now paying back. Asylum seekers attend a German language course in Vienna, Austria, 23 February 2016. (EPA/CHRISTIAN BRUNA) The grand...
by Lindsi Reyes | 20 Dec 2019 | Immigration, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, United States, Youth Voices
My father used to tend our garden. Then he was taken from us — changing what I understood about America’s fundamental covenants. He doused the roots of his white carnations, careful not to soak the generous stems that lived inside this hanging pot. They...
by Amari Leigh | 27 Aug 2019 | Europe, Immigration, Youth Voices
Chinese immigrants form a growing community in France. Two manicurists gave me insight into challenges facing workers in Paris’s beauty industry. Finding a good nail salon in a new city can be a challenge. After roaming the streets of Paris’ 14th arrondissement...
by Ben Barber | 12 Aug 2019 | Globalization, Human Rights, Immigration
The world’s refugee population is growing. But the countries where migration is most contentious is not where most refugees are settling. Conflict, poverty, violence and human rights violations are driving more people to flee their homelands than at any time...
by Bernd Debusmann Jr | 20 Jun 2019 | Americas, Donald Trump, Eyewitness, Immigration, Refugees, United States
Mexico is under pressure to stop migrants from fleeing Central America to the U.S. Are Mexicans’ attitudes towards their neighbors hardening? A raftsman navigates the Suchiate River between Guatemala and Mexico, 17 June 2019 (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) ...
by Gilda Temaj Marroquin | 12 Jun 2019 | Americas, Immigration, Personal Reflections, Refugees, United States, Women's rights, Youth Voices
I was raised in Guatemala, where I was expected to grow up fast and told that women are not meant to go to school. But I had other dreams. Children attend school in northern Guatemala, 1 July 2014 (AP Photo/Luis Soto) I come from Guatemala, where education is not a...
