IRIN Web Special on Separated Somali Children

In the classroom

In his study of Somali refugee children ¹⁷, Hassan recommended that schools should adopt an approach to the psychological issues affecting refugee children, particularly racism; and that the schools should be more flexible on the admission policy, allowing pupils time to adjust and develop their linguistic and academic capabilities, instead of being categorized by age only. He noted there had been little research done on the experiences of unaccompanied Somali children in the education system, but said community leaders were particularly concerned about this group of children. "The community leaders observed that the worst [cases] are those unaccompanied children who came here without parents. The majority of [children] in detention are of this category."

Hassan gives a psychiatrists' list of some of the problems refugee children experience, including sadness or irritability, poor concentration and restlessness; aggression and disruptiveness as a result of distress; fear of loud noises or voices, or of groups of men, or men in uniform; physical symptoms such as nightmares, aches and pains, loss of appetite; frustration and insecurity. In one study on refugee children in a London school, a head teacher reported this: "Some of his refugee children had appeared to run amok one afternoon, and had been quite unable to settle, and the whole school had been disrupted by their wild behaviour. The trigger for this behaviour was the local police helicopter circling overhead."¹⁸

Studies of refugee children in schools show that racial and sexual harassment is a common occurrence, particularly in mixed sex schools, and is exacerbated by religious intolerance. Somali girls wearing the hijab¹⁹ say they face racial taunting, social exclusions and at times physical attacks. After the 11 September 2001 events many Somali girls and women in London were terrified into removing their scarves because of the number of assaults - including spitting, insults and harassment - IRIN was told during the course of research there.

Conflicting values at home

Hassan points out in his study that the refugee children suffer from a whole range of stresses that are not easily identified - for example, conflicting values and demands in their two worlds, the school and home. Guardians are likely to impress upon children that they should do what is expected of them at school, while at the same time insisting the children abide by the customs and norms of the family at home. If they fail to cope with the education system, the likelihood is that the children will fall on to the edge of society and be particularly vulnerable to anti social or criminal behaviour. "Our children join the 'no-hope' gangs and go shoplifting… They learn to drink and take drugs", one Somali community leader told IRIN.

Social workers and teachers also say that problems for the children arise from the fact that many Somali adults do not engage with the education system, either because they are unable to (illiteracy and language problems), or because they are unaware of the expectations of the Western mode of education. Most are unfamiliar with the "form-filling" culture, which means children are excluded from vital lists, and sometimes unfairly penalized. For example, if a parent fails to write a letter when their child is sick, the child will acquire the stigma of "unauthorised absence".

[Somali woman on her experience with schools in Canada]

Where unaccompanied children do manage to adapt to the new system, they may find themselves vulnerable to disapproval of the more conservative Somali community. Ismahan, interviewed in Stockholm, was smuggled to Sweden as an unaccompanied child when she was 14 years old. She was left outside the door of a police station. After trying to contact her family through the Red Cross, she accepted life in Sweden, and eventually got an apartment of her own when she was 17. "It was very tough at first to manage my studies…at school the kids swear and show no respect…I was alone, dealing with the bills, and trying to study. Eventually I had a good relationship with my teacher, and I liked my independence. But I didn't have such a good contact with the Somali society."

Other difficulties include adapting to an entirely new method of education that stresses initiative and self-discipline rather than learning by rote under strict supervision. As a result, many Somali children struggle to understand their place and role in a liberal society, which frowns on the disciplinarian upbringing they are likely to have experienced at home. They find themselves in a culture that encourages them to question their own guardians and traditions, but is frequently dismissive or contemptuous of minority groups, perceiving them as unruly and aggressive. According to Hassan, Somali children are considered aggressive in schools because of the way they tend to respond to teasing and bullying - "Culturally, Somalis are told at home, don't lie down, defend yourself, prove yourself a man."

In London schools, Somali children had a reputation of being quick to pick a fight or pull a knife, IRIN was told by a variety of professionals. With the violence they are likely to have experienced in their home country, and the cultural taunts they may experience from adults at home, Somali children have been shown to tend towards violent behaviour in the playgrounds and on the streets.

"Our boys are particularly vulnerable, because they have very poor role models at home - unemployed male relatives who chew qat²⁰ and talk about the war," one Somali teacher told IRIN in London. Expulsions may end up in criminal behaviour, prison or juvenile detention, and alienation from the Somali community. Negligence and frustration at school also leads to under achievement, failure to secure qualifications, and disapproval -and sometimes rejection - by the Somali community as well as the host society.

[Mulki Muse Galal, on Somali children and the education system in Britain]

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