Hispanic Girls Growing up on the Border

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Recommended: An introduction to language barriers

Hispanic Girls Growing up on the Border

The Southwest United States is an area of great diversity. It is located on the border between the US and Mexico. In this region there are four main ethnicities represented: Hispanics, African Americans, Anglo Americans, and Native Americans. These groups interact daily working in the same offices and going to school together. Youth of each ethnicity face risks as they grow up. By focusing on the Hispanic adolescent girl the extent of the possible risks to one ethnicity can be explored. These risks will include motivation at school, the risk of dropping out of school, the at-risk classification, which includes gang involvement, and teen pregnancy. The results of studies focused on the risks to Hispanic girls will be compared to an interview with a Hispanic girl living in Tucson, Arizona and what she feels the actual risks are. Through the comparison a full view of the risks to adolescent Hispanic girls growing up in the border region will be seen.

At-Risk girls is a term used over and over in order to describe girls that may be predisposed to problems such as dropping out of school or joining gangs. Girls classified as at risk share many of the same characteristics. Not having English as a native language is one of the risk factors attributed to the at risk girl classification. For first and, often, second generation Hispanics the language barrier is a problem leading to poor economic standing and poor education. In the border region this problem is evident in some schools since they may "consist primarily of Mexican American students, most of whom are considered at-risk based on language barriers, economic disadvantages, and poor family education"(Sonne...

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...erimental Education 62.1 (1993): 60-71.

Granleese, Jaqueline & Joseph, Stephen. "Self-Perception Profile of Adolescent Girls at a Single-Sex and Mixed Sex School." Journal of Genetic Psychology 154.4 (1993): 525-530.

Jones, Randall M. & Lauver, Philip J. "Factors Associated With Perceived Career Options in American Indian, White, and Hispanic Rural High School Students." Journal of Counseling Psychology 38.2 (1991): 159-166.

Menchaca, Velma D. "Achievement Motivation in Mexican-American Eighth Grade Students." Psychological Reports 72.3 (1993): 971-978.

Osborne, Jason W. "Race and Academic Disidentification." Journal of Educational Psychology 89.4 (1997): 728-735.

Sonnenblick, Melissa D. "The GALLS Club: Promoting Belonging Among At-Risk Adolescent Girls." The School Counselor 44 (1997): 243-245.

Smith, Josie. Personal interview. 24 Mar. 1999.

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