Latino male students in the US exhibits difficulty in having a proper behavior in classrooms because of their familiarity with the controversial Arizona immigration-enforcement bill, study shows. Such behaviors include disobedience and being noisy.
In the study published online in Ethic and Racial Studies titled "Awareness of Arizona immigration law SB1070 predicts classroom behavioral problems among Latino youths during early adolescence," it said that it is important in measuring young people's awareness of laws and the process of the awareness might influence their academic achievement in school. "The effects of the students' awareness of the immigration bill predicted lower levels of classroom regulatory behavior among the male students," Cecilia Menjivar, the co-author of the study, said.
She added that the effects of the Arizona immigration law did not vary depending on whether youth were first, second or third-generation immigrants. "Latino males are already at a higher risk for academic adjustment problems," she said.
The awareness of the Arizona immigration law was not seen as an important predictor of classroom behaviors among female students. On the other hand, the Latino boys who participated in the study with the awareness of Senate Bill 10170 were reported to have lower levels of classroom regulatory behaviors.
Carlos Santos, the lead author of this study, said that the research on the effect of the Arizona immigration law demonstrates that Latino males may be particularly vulnerable that many characterized as being discriminatory toward their ethnic group. In an article published by Eureka Alert, classroom regulatory behaviors like staying quiet or following directors were shown in the study to predict a variety of educational outcomes among the youths, especially for the Latino kids. Last 2014, the U.S. Department of Education said that Latino males had the biggest high school drop out rate compared to other groups.
Santos said that awareness of discriminatory laws such as SB 1070 [or the Arizona immigration law] may exacerbate the gender educational gap that already places Latino male students at a significant disadvantage. The law states that it would end its practice of requiring law enforcement officers to demand papers of people suspected to have no proper documentation.
