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 Anna on 6/17/04

    Aloha Joanne, I have been teaching in Hawaii for the past
    three years. My schools have been the poorest of the poor.
    I am a 'haole'. There have been certain remarks and
    resentments but overall nothing to the point where I am
    afraid. My concern though is for your children. And I am
    concerned on two points. One-why put them through the
    hassle of being ostracized and TWO--most importantly, the
    level of learning and education here is just atrocious. The
    students who do well are such a small percentage of the
    whole school population. You should really consider
    private schools should you decide to come here. Many of
    the teachers that I work with send their own children to
    private schools. If my children were school age, I wouldn't
    consider anything else. Drugs are seemingly a way of life
    here. Pakololo (marijuana) is considered the same as a
    beer for most of my students. When there's waves, there's
    no students. This environment and attitude is something
    you really should consider. Good luck.

    On 5/19/04, Amy wrote:
    > 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
    >
    >
    > Hello,
    >
    > First of all, let me say that I feel a bit of resentment
    > towards the assumption that mainland whites who move
    to
    > Hawai'i treat Hawaiians as if they are somehow ignorant
    > people. I fell in love with the culture and history quite
    > passionately. In another post, I stated a few of the things
    I
    > had learned, as well as noting that I had a close native
    > Hawaiian friend. He always tells me that my love for
    Hawai'i
    > must have been what hurt me most when the racism
    started to
    > appear, because I loved pidgin and listening to the
    musical
    > language, hearing the stories, and studying what had
    happened
    > in the past. This did not seem to matter to anyone; I was
    > saddened as well to see how many Hawaiians knew so
    little
    > about their own history. Education did not matter, the
    fact
    > that I was there to learn all these things did not matter.
    > What mattered was the color of my skin, and that is very
    sad.
    > It is sad anywhere, and I do not approve of it. There is
    no
    > excuse for that kind of behavior. I have also lived in Key
    > West, a much different place; however, people have their
    > prejudices there as well. People assume if you live there
    > you're 'wastin away in Margaritaville' when anyone who
    lives
    > there works harder than they would anywhere else,
    simply due
    > to the cost of apartments (driven up by these same
    tourists).
    > Not all tourists are like that, however, and neither are all
    > whites. Some of us were there to learn and came with
    an open
    > mind, and experienced things like not being waited on in
    > places, being shoved out of line at stores, etc., before
    they
    > said a word, so it really doesn't hinge on having an
    educated
    > or open attitude.
    > My childhood best friend was moved to Hawaii at a very
    young
    > age. She became interested in hula. She was tortured
    by
    > everyone in her class, including her teacher, for years. I
    > don't know how it was that she was allowed to stay in
    class,
    > but apparently there was a performance done near the
    volcano
    > at one point. While my friend was performing, a dove
    flew
    > over the volcano (at least, I think they said it was a dove),
    > and suddenly she was OK. Granted, this is only a story,
    and
    > may be a contrived one, but her entire family has had a
    lot of
    > problems with racism there. The family is open-minded
    and
    > quite loving; her father is a lawyer who has made an
    effort to
    > help employ low-income Hawaiian people. He also
    loves the
    > culture and the people, but he told me it took twenty years
    > before anyone would even give him respect as a lawyer
    simply
    > because he was white.
    >
    > I loved Hawai'i, its culture, language, and people. This
    was
    > not helpful in the least. I wish it had been otherwise, but
    > that was my experience.
    >
    > -Amy

     
     

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.