SUBSCRIBE  |  PREFERENCES MY LINKS:              chat center STATES  |  GRADE LEVEL  |  SUBJECTS

HI Teachers Chatboard

TOP POSTS ALL POSTS SUBMIT POST
Search Teachers.Net
Advanced

Advertise with Teachers.Net - Rate Card, Demographics, etc. Live Chat - Online Teacher Meetings and Workshops Harry Wong - Effective Teaching Teachers.Net Gazette - Articles by Teachers, For Teachers Mailrings - Teacher Email Discussion Lists Teaching Jobs - Free Job Listings for Classroom Teachers Teacher Classified Ads K-12 Classroom Projects Lesson Plans - Over 4000 Free Lesson Plans Teacher Chatboards - Discussion Forums for Teachers Teacher Chat - Over 150 Teacher Discussion Topics
next post skip topic



Print | Share | Report Post

Re: sending my "haole" children to Hawaii's schools
Posted by Roald Murphy on 12/24/05

    On 12/25/03, Joanne W wrote:
    > I am currently a special education teacher in NY. I taught
    > on the small Pacific Island of Saipan for 3 years and I
    > loved it there. My husband and I have been longing for the
    > tropical lifestyle and are in the planning stages of moving
    > to Hawaii in the summer of 2005. I have read the postings
    > on this site and I am so saddened by them that I am
    > reconsidering my move. I feel that I could handle the
    > teaching conditions in Hawaii (in Saipan we no breaks, had
    > to mop, sweep our own rooms and even took out our own
    > garbage). What really worries me, though, is the prospect
    > of sending my two little, innocent "haole" children to
    > school where they may be hated, teased because of their
    > color (my daughter is so white she's practically blue!)
    > Honestly, is it really bad for white children in the
    > schools? I would apprecaite any feedback. Thanks you-
    > Joanne

    It would be nice if you could go out the schools, and check them out, but I don't
    recommend it. You cannot ask questions without being made to feel like a
    criminal, snob, and racist ... I.E. My question -"How do the different races get
    along here?"
    This was answered by an emotionally unstable school administrator who
    IMMEDIATELY responded " Who are you to come to Hawaii and start acting like
    you belong!"...
    I didn't know how to reply to that, so I played nice, but was still asked to leave.
    Of course she later denied that the entire thing happened later when we both
    spoke to the school principle. It was a misunderstanding, and I should know
    too, that "Haole ain't top dog here..."
    Having lived around the world I found the experience pathetic, really the worst
    first impression I could have gotten. That type of experience solidifies my
    contempt for all these people fighting for victim status and messing with
    children because they are easy targets... Instead of hiring locals to work for my
    business, I'm importing mainlanders.... Why would I sign up for more of that
    stuff from people whom I pay quite well...???!!! Then there was the beach
    incident...
    A blonde 5 year old was pushed off lava rocks by a large boy, a local who was
    10 or 12 years old. She was seriously injured as the boys parents and sister sat
    there, 5 feet away, laughing! It was the worst thing I've ever seen, I think. It got
    worse as the girls mother started screaming at the husband not to say anything
    to them. So, he could do nothing. Crying, the man helped his daughter out of
    the tide pool as that awful family sat laughing, making rude comments.
    Enraged, I ran out to the hotel and found a police officer. He pretended to get
    the local mans information, but really he was watching me the whole time. Not
    unexpectedly, he let them go with a laugh.
    I later followed up with the girls father who told me his daughter had over 40
    stitches for cuts on her head, face and hands. He explained that they were
    selling their home to move back to San Diego. The same San Diego where they
    had left the year before, to escape incidents like that.
    If incidents like this upset you then don't come. You will not believe how
    otherwise friendly people will behave this way and then play dumb about it. Say
    what they want, the only place worse than here for passive and overt racism that
    I've seen was in Morocco, (where they can also be disarmingly warm and
    friendly only to fly off unprovoked spitting threats and insults).
    If it were just you I'd say go, but as a mental health professional, with two
    offices here, I have seen too many depressed, self mutilating, suicidal. and drug
    addicted children and teens, I just would not suggest it.

    R Murphy

     
     

You are on the HI CHATBOARD:   LATEST POSTS   ALL POSTS   SUBMIT POST

Check out our latest FREE Lesson Plans...
 
Google
 
Web Teachers.Net
Click here
  Site Map: Home Search Teaching Jobs Classifieds Lesson Plans Contacts PR AdvertiseSite Map
  © 1996 - 2008. All Rights Reserved. Please review our Terms of Use, Mission Statement, and Privacy Policy.