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World News See other World News Articles Title: A Fate Worse Than Ukraine: An American Public School After experiencing a California public school, a Ukrainian girl wants to go back home. Ukrainian Teen Yana Experiences American Public School Authored by Jill Tucker in The Chronicle Everything Yana, a 13-year-old Ukrainian refugee, knew about public schools in the United States was what she had seen on television or in the movies, often idyllic settings where teenage conflict and angst ironed itself out by the end. She never imagined herself in those American classrooms [...] “I thought it was going to be better because it’s San Francisco,” she said in Ukrainian, with her aunt translating. “But after two days, I saw everything going on at the school.” Students interrupted classes, jumped on desks, cursed at teachers. At first, Yana wondered what was going on, but then, “nothing happened.” Students were not disciplined or prevented from repeat behavior. “After one week, I understood that was normal,” said Yana, whose last name The Chronicle agreed not to publish in accordance with its source policy. For Yana, the situation only got worse as the weeks went on, her fears escalating. She had escaped war, but not bullying and bad behavior by classmates. Yana’s mother and aunt, Mariia Moroz, said the teen would come home from school and describe the chaotic scenes in her classrooms. “She would tell us and we were terrified,” Moroz said of the verbal abuse, hallway conflicts and classroom outbursts, adding they told Yana to avoid eye contact and try to avoid the students acting out. Not long after, Yana said, she became the target [...] Within a month at Marina, Yana said, someone stole her cell phone in the cafeteria and then a group of students who she believed was responsible, threatened her. Yana knew enough English to understand the gist. “They started yelling and cursing and moving toward her,” her aunt said of the early February encounter. “A counselor came and intervened.” The next day, Yana stopped going to school. School officials offered her a security action plan to make sure she felt safe. Yana’s aunt and mother have requested a transfer to another school, where the teen could start over without fear for her safety or an escort through the hallways, but so far, the district has denied that request and urged Yana to return with the support services offered. So far, she hasn’t been back. Yana just wants to go back to her hometown in central Ukraine, back to the only school she knew before the war, even as her mom and aunt have started to research camps and other programs in San Francisco to occupy the summer months. A Somewhat Similar Situation In The UK The story about the Ukrainian teen in San Francisco brought to mind a somewhat similar story about Ukrainian refugees in the UK, except in the British story, by their Channel 4, Ukrainian discomfort with Western dysfunction is framed as a failure of the Ukrainians to integrate. As a Ukrainian woman says in the video below, she moved from "the best area of Kiev" to "the worst area of Birmingham". The Channel 4 interviewer tries to suggest that the refugee is simply uncomfortable with with diversity, but the refugee tells her she went to the police website and saw crime stats. Touché, Oksana. Poster Comment: The Marina district is the wealthiest one in SF. Pity the kids who go to school in the minority neighborhoods. But Whites are a minority everywhere. But then Chinese are less violent than Blacks or Hispanics. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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