What’s it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is heading to SSIMS and probably Northwood after that.

What is it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school? Are there any cultural differences to be aware of?

I am Latina and grew up in almost entirely Latino public schools. I'll be honest, I perceived the few white kids as economically privileged (they usually were) and sometimes there were cultural things they didn't understand but they often caught on to those quickly and were quick to joke about them. No other significant differences and most of the time we never thought about it.

Like? What kind of cultural things?

I don’t even remember. Minor things imo.

But some things I know I experienced as a child that might seem odd to white families include not celebrating Halloween, no sleepovers, no summer camps, no money or time for extracurriculars, more emphasis on family time (like family doing most things together). Also maybe a different sense of humor, it’s hard to describe, no tiptoeing around things and less passive aggression, more direct language for better or worse. How much of this impacted my white classmates, idk. I think this stuff also varies among Latinos so these are huge generalizations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is heading to SSIMS and probably Northwood after that.

What is it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school? Are there any cultural differences to be aware of?

I am Latina and grew up in almost entirely Latino public schools. I'll be honest, I perceived the few white kids as economically privileged (they usually were) and sometimes there were cultural things they didn't understand but they often caught on to those quickly and were quick to joke about them. No other significant differences and most of the time we never thought about it.

Like? What kind of cultural things?

I don’t even remember. Minor things imo.

But some things I know I experienced as a child that might seem odd to white families include not celebrating Halloween, no sleepovers, no summer camps, no money or time for extracurriculars, more emphasis on family time (like family doing most things together). Also maybe a different sense of humor, it’s hard to describe, no tiptoeing around things and less passive aggression, more direct language for better or worse. How much of this impacted my white classmates, idk. I think this stuff also varies among Latinos so these are huge generalizations.

These are not Latino things. These are things common in many immigrant communities. Many white European immigrant families do these things, for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this was the whitest thing you could have done.

I have secondhand embarrassment for you.

OP, gently, this is not a thing you need to worry about. Diversity is a good thing. Your real issue is the fact that SSIMS is about to be closed by MCPS - worry about that and what programs Northwood might have after this mess of a regional program plan goes through.

PP nailed it in the most useful way possible.

I would add that OP would benefit from giving her child opportunities to be a minority outside of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is heading to SSIMS and probably Northwood after that.

What is it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school? Are there any cultural differences to be aware of?

I am Latina and grew up in almost entirely Latino public schools. I'll be honest, I perceived the few white kids as economically privileged (they usually were) and sometimes there were cultural things they didn't understand but they often caught on to those quickly and were quick to joke about them. No other significant differences and most of the time we never thought about it.

Like? What kind of cultural things?

I don’t even remember. Minor things imo.

But some things I know I experienced as a child that might seem odd to white families include not celebrating Halloween, no sleepovers, no summer camps, no money or time for extracurriculars, more emphasis on family time (like family doing most things together). Also maybe a different sense of humor, it’s hard to describe, no tiptoeing around things and less passive aggression, more direct language for better or worse. How much of this impacted my white classmates, idk. I think this stuff also varies among Latinos so these are huge generalizations.

It varies enormously among Latinos and a lot of what you described is because of social class rather than ethnicity. I’m part Afro-Cuban. My wealthy high school classmates who were Latinas celebrated Halloween, had sleepovers, went to summer camps, and had plenty of money and time for extracurriculars ranging from the performing arts to sports to academic competitions. Except for celebrating Halloween, I did not and this was because my family was poor.

There’s also a religious element: Catholics generally celebrate Halloween, evangelical Christians generally do not.

[Anonymous]

It’s a non-issue. Plus, the schools you listed are very diverse so there are kids from all backgrounds and ethnicities.

[Anonymous]

SSIMS is 42% Hispanic/Latino and 26% non-Hispanic white. Pretty typical split at MCPS middle and high schools. What kind of ES are you coming from that this feels like an overwhelming majority of Hispanic/Latino kids and has you worried that your white kids will experience culture shock? I thought you were going to be asking about, like, Odessa Shannon (65% Hispanic and 5% white) and Kennedy (67% Hispanic, 5% white) or something

[Anonymous]

Do the Hispanic kids talk Spanish or English at school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the Hispanic kids talk Spanish or English at school?

As a group, both. However, some individuals may exclusively speak English and others exclusively Spanish. MoCo has a lot of kids who are Latino, but don’t speak Spanish (no sabo kids) and many who are native born, but still EMLs well into ES or even middle.

[Anonymous]

Your kid will become Latino like his peers, its contagious. His taste in food and music will improve and he'll become more kind hearted. Sorry for breaking the bad news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kid will become Latino like his peers, its contagious. His taste in food and music will improve and he'll become more kind hearted. Sorry for breaking the bad news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is heading to SSIMS and probably Northwood after that.

What is it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school? Are there any cultural differences to be aware of?

I am Latina and grew up in almost entirely Latino public schools. I'll be honest, I perceived the few white kids as economically privileged (they usually were) and sometimes there were cultural things they didn't understand but they often caught on to those quickly and were quick to joke about them. No other significant differences and most of the time we never thought about it.

Like? What kind of cultural things?

I don’t even remember. Minor things imo.

But some things I know I experienced as a child that might seem odd to white families include not celebrating Halloween, no sleepovers, no summer camps, no money or time for extracurriculars, more emphasis on family time (like family doing most things together). Also maybe a different sense of humor, it’s hard to describe, no tiptoeing around things and less passive aggression, more direct language for better or worse. How much of this impacted my white classmates, idk. I think this stuff also varies among Latinos so these are huge generalizations.

It varies enormously among Latinos and a lot of what you described is because of social class rather than ethnicity. I’m part Afro-Cuban. My wealthy high school classmates who were Latinas celebrated Halloween, had sleepovers, went to summer camps, and had plenty of money and time for extracurriculars ranging from the performing arts to sports to academic competitions. Except for celebrating Halloween, I did not and this was because my family was poor.

There’s also a religious element: Catholics generally celebrate Halloween, evangelical Christians generally do not.

Yup this is all true! Like I said, huge generalizations. I grew up working class and my classmates mostly did too. And some of these things are immigrant things, not specifically Latino things too. My kids are growing up second generation in an upper middle class household and almost none of these things apply to them (still don’t do sleepovers though). Just trying to answer the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't take Spanish as a foreign language. The classes are filled with kids who already know Spanish and it makes the classes unreasonably difficult.

I went to a Hispanic high school. We had separate classes for native speakers. There was even an AP Spanish class for native speakers that’s different than normal AP Spanish. Native speakers were always trying to get into regular AP Spanish for an easier grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kid will become Latino like his peers, its contagious. His taste in food and music will improve and he'll become more kind hearted. Sorry for breaking the bad news.

Ha

[Anonymous]

My kid finished SSIMS. The ethnic mix was a complete non-issue for him. Other things overshadowed that. Middle school in general is just hard. As a sixth grader, he didn't like SSIMS because of the overcrowded hallways, graffiti that was never cleaned up, fights, etc. A different vibe than elementary school. But that became normal by seventh and eighth grade.

He also has hispanic friends which included a ton of sleepovers. And our neighborhood has lots of hispanic kids out trick or treating.

For the person insinuating that immersion kids are separate from the rest of the kids. They only have two immersion classes a day.

And Spanish is an excellent language to know. Middle school is a great time to start learning it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is heading to SSIMS and probably Northwood after that.

What is it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school? Are there any cultural differences to be aware of?

I am Latina and grew up in almost entirely Latino public schools. I'll be honest, I perceived the few white kids as economically privileged (they usually were) and sometimes there were cultural things they didn't understand but they often caught on to those quickly and were quick to joke about them. No other significant differences and most of the time we never thought about it.

Like? What kind of cultural things?

I don’t even remember. Minor things imo.

But some things I know I experienced as a child that might seem odd to white families include not celebrating Halloween, no sleepovers, no summer camps, no money or time for extracurriculars, more emphasis on family time (like family doing most things together). Also maybe a different sense of humor, it’s hard to describe, no tiptoeing around things and less passive aggression, more direct language for better or worse. How much of this impacted my white classmates, idk. I think this stuff also varies among Latinos so these are huge generalizations.

These are not Latino things. These are things common in many immigrant communities. Many white European immigrant families do these things, for example.

Also Asians!