Tracey Baptiste: First Generation Kids

introduction

I never remember whether First-Generation Immigrant means people who were born in one country and moved to another, or the children of immigrants. I always have to look it up. Turns out it’s the former, which makes me a first-generation immigrant, now citizen, and my kids are second-gen.

People were enamored of my accent when I first moved to Brooklyn at age 15, but I don’t remember when I lost it. I’m sad I did because the lilting sound of Trinidadian English is so beautiful to me. (Maybe that’s why I made the subject of my Mrs. Z book a kid losing her accent.) It feels like a loss, and it is. It’s a strange thing to think of “home” as two places, carrying them both in your heart. It makes your perspective on the world very different.

First-generation kids are a blend of important qualities including resilience from having to start over in a new place, and cultural (sometimes linguistic) dexterity, coupled with socio-political insight from personal experience. It puts first-gen immigrant students at an advantage that, unfortunately, few recognize.

The political environment of the United States is an immigration minefield. Discussions of identity and belonging are filled with rhetoric and vitriol, putting kids in a position to adjust how they present in real time. Becoming a chameleon is part of the recent immigrant experience. Often that means hiding beneficial skills like being bilingual because standing out might put them in harm’s way.

It’s unfortunate. Knowing two languages is a huge benefit in a global economy, and it’s a cognitive superpower that boosts executive function, creativity, problem-solving, memory, adaptability, and the ability to make interesting connections.

But keeping this and other talents hidden does not negate the skills they have, which, when tapped into, can lead to academic excellence.

The focus is usually on social acceptance which, while important, is only one part of what it means to be a first-gen immigrant. If educators let kids see their experiences as expertise, they could really thrive and assimilate a lot more quickly.

First-gen students have a lot to offer. Whether that’s a benefit to the school and classroom environment or just to themselves, is really up to the educators who give or withhold their support.

Be well and do good

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