Alief Elsik High School - Ramblings Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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re and hardships put •on the parent they live th. Suzanne, who has vays been active in aool stated, I know it is hard on mom having support herself and two ildren but we made it thout too many prob- ns. A change in a family •angement also brings a ange in the respon- •ilities of the family ?mbers. Many teenagers ve to sacrifice time with ends and other activities order to do things at me or earn wages to lp finances meet. When ?lissa's father decided to narry she stated, I felt yaded upon. All of a dden I had the demands three more people on -Vhen a single parent rides to remarry, the p-parent often makes nagers uncomfortable, zanne said, I feel very nfortable with my p-dad now, but it took a of adjusting because things and replaced them with hers. She also rearranged everything. I also had to learn not to talk to her in the mornings or when she was cooking, not to get excited about school, and to think twice about everything I said and did. Although there are many disadvantages of living with only one parent, there are advan- tages. As a result of living with one parent, many teens develop a closer relationship with the parent they live with and become more independent and responsible adults. Because their spouse is gone, single parents often rely heavily on their children for emotional support. I have come to realize that my father is just human and I under- stand him better. He has become very open about his feelings and we have a close relationship. Suzanne said, After the divorce, my mother I have come to realize that my father is just human and I understand him better. He has become very open about his feelings and we have a close relationship. •re was not a man in the use for four years. When came to live with us I 1 a rude awakening. All he rules changed and at ;t I didn't like it but I got ;d to it. delissa had a more ficult time adjusting to ■ with her step-mother. ? revealed, When she y step-mom) moved in i got rid of a lot of our seemed distant for a long time. But eventually she started to open up. In a way. I'm glad she got the divorce because if she hadn't, I often wonder if we would be as close as we are now. By Rae Rabe, Asst. Editor Single Parent Families Rambler 151

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Single Parent Familie Touch Teen Live Whether caused by divorce or death, the number of single parent families today is stag- gering. In Harris Countv alone, fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce. That doesn't include many families who have ex- perienced the death of a years old. Melissa, a junior, only ten years old wY her mother died in accident. She said, Wt I woke up in the hospite asked how everyone vn They kept telling me t my father and my li brother Jeff were goin£ It came as a big shock to me when I was told my parents were getting divorced - I was only eleven years old. parent. Either way, it seems if the loss of a parent or divorce in a family always comes as a shock. Suzanne, a senior in high school, said, It came as a big shock to me when I was told that my parents were getting divorced. I was only eleven be okay. Finally, later t day, they told me that m was dead. It wasn't uni got out of the hospital« returned home thal started missing her. Because they live i: family with only c parent, teenagers of come to realize the p: The Statistics Show . . . Type of Household Male head of household, wife present Male head of household, wife absent Female head of household, husband present Female head of household, husband absent Single, never married Divorced people Number in Percent of Millions Total 47.5 57.7 1.4 1.7 1.8 2.2 2.6 3.1 10 12.2 8.2 10 2 One out of eight children lived ir a single parent home. Nine out of ten single parent families were headed by mom. The number of single parent families headed by dad has doubled in the past decade. There were 109 divorced people for every 1.000 married ones. For blacks there were 233 divorcees p 1,000 married people. Single parent families increased from 21.7 million in 1970 to 35 million in 1983. 150 Rambler Singlc Parent Families

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Asians Achieve Parents Demand Excellence Seniors jasmin Ilanga and Vu Tran listen closely to instructions during tl British Literature class. Photo by R. I Increasingly, Asian stu- dents are able to out-perform American students in the U.S. on a basis of art and intellect in science and math. Since the immigration of Asians to the U.S. has increased greatly, many worried American educators and parents look enviously to the East. Dr. Harold Stevenson, a professor of child psy- chology at the University of Michigan, says that in a competative world such as ours, we have a right to be worried. The average high school graduate in China and Japan has a much better understanding of physics and math than his American counterpart. Stevenson says this affects the quality of the product each produces. The Chin- ese or Japanese worker is more likely to understand the need for precision and will strive to accomplish excellence more often than the American worker. Across the U.S., school officials see Asian-Amer- icans topping honor rolls of some of the country's highly regarded schools. The same is true for Alief. Nevertheless, achieve- ment can be a source of pain as well as pride to Asian-American students. Unlike their admirers, these students seldom take their success for granted. There is a heavy sense of obligation not to do anything that is embarrassing to the family. This is called face. Even students of average ability attempt to over achieve at all costs. According to Senior Don Quach who came from Vietnam nine years ago, there is an incentive to do extremely well in Vietnam schools. You can really feel the pressure; a parental as well as community pres- sure. Parental expecta- tions can be a mixed blessing. They set such high standards that some children fall apart if they cannot maintain an A- average. Such single- mindedness can cause social problems for these young people trying to adjust to a new culture. The high motivation Asians share with other immigrants is the drive to establish themselves, once they reach the U.S. Many An increasing percent of our students are Asian. As elsewhere in the U.S., they are out-performing Americans. parents ot these students do not have money or property. The only thing they can give their children is the best available opportunity to achieve their potential- education. The in- ternational language of math and science also allows children still strug- gling with English to achieve in those field faster. Parents often tend to nudge their children into careers that seem to have no political context because of the painful and frightening memories of social activism in their native countries. The U.S. still believes that education is the path to attainment, but citizens are unwilling to pay more taxes or to upgrade the educational profession. American teachers receive far less respect than Asian. Americans tend to cat- egorize certain children at a very young age as having ability levels or handicaps. According to Stevenson, there is no educational advantage to segregating children by their academic skills. When a child starts making mistakes in the U.S., many educators deduce failure. In Japan, errors are regarded as one of the best learning tools. In many student si- tuations, there is no parent supervision, support, or real belief in homework, and a lack of parent teacher communication. As one of Elsik's teachers questioned, How can we conduct class when half the students do not do their homework? This is the responsibility of the parent and the student. In Japan and China, children take message booklets back and forth to home and school. The school day is longer, and the week is five and a half days, but teaching time is the same. Teachers and students also have more breaks. In higher education, the U.S. still excels, but only for the cream of the crop. Senior Kris Hoang attends m; of the school’s extra-curricu activities. Photo by R. Law For the average stude we need to re-install 1 belief that education important. We need to concerned, stated S venson. by Ericka H 152 Rjmbler Asian Students