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INTERNATIONAL DESK
RefugeeWhiz
Kids–
AreThey
Just Smarter?
1
t is easy to bl ame someone
e lse when things go wrong. Like, for
instance, when your child is failing high
school. High schools today are c riticized for
graduating illiterates. Teachers are accused
of being incompetent. Many feel the colleges
and universities are not doing their job, and
it is evident that the general level of educa–
tion among America's youths has declined
over the last 20 yea rs. According to reports
from our
Plain Truth
offices around the
world, the same is true in other industrialized
countries. In Britai n, France, West Germa–
ny, Canada, South Africa and Australia,
parents and educators are concerned about
t he declining standards and deteriorating
quality of the education of the young.
One t hird of all people on earth cannot read or
write. They a re mainly the rural inhabitan ts of
thc poorer undeveloped n ations. But now, it
secms we must add to this figure a growing num–
ber of young people in industria li zed countries
who a re
functiona/Jy
illiterate- lacking all but
the most basic language and mathematical skills.
Leading law schools a nd universit ies fi nd that
t hey mus t teach remedia! cou rses in " bone head"
English and elementary math. Forty-n ine percent
o f ch ildren in one school couldn ' t find t he Paci fi c
Ocean on a g lobe of t he world.
Whose fauJt is it? Blame the schools. Blame the
administration. Blame the teachers. Blame the....
But wait a minute.
Amid the clamor to find a scapegoat , in America
October 1983
there is a group of young people who have quietly
showed something very positive about their education
system. They are the children who carne as refugees
from their battered homelands in Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia.
Americans read about the young Southeast Asians
who topped the honor rolls at several majar high
schools in the United States this year. Or of 12-year–
old Lino Yann who had escaped from a forced labor
camp in Cambod ia only four years ago. Lino Yann
narrowly missed wi nning a major spell ing contest only
because she couldn't spell
enchilada.
But what readers may not realize is that these refu–
gee "whiz kids" are not so unusual. Most of the Indo–
chinese refugee chi ldre'h have done remarkably well in
the American school system.
1 first became acquainted wi th these chi ldre n in
the refugee camps of Northern Thailand. Ambassa–
dor College had been asked to help Laotian and
Hilltribe refugees who had been approved to be
resettled in Western count ries. We taught only the
adults- trying to prepare these simple rural people
for the dramatic change that would soon come to
them. There was not the time or resources to teach
the children. But day after day they peered through
the windows of the primitive classrooms, watching
wi th fascination as their parents struggled to learn
English.
The children picked up a few phrases here and
there . " Hellohowareyoufinethankyou!" they would
shout in one long breath when they met us in the
camp. Then they scattered in all directions, squealing
with delight over their abi lity to speak " Engrish."
We worried for them. How would they survive?
J us t 6, 7 and 8 years old; many were orphans, with at
best only a few months of formal school ing. The Indo–
chinese wars severely disrupted the already inadequate
education systems. These children had been malnour–
ished and traumatized. When given a paper and pencil
they would draw scenes of bombs fall ing on villages, or
of peasants being executed and tortured. Now precious
years were being wasted as they waited in the limbo of
a refugee camp. These early years are vital in laying a
foundation for future education. A child needs a s table
home, secur ity and a good diet. Would these little
waifs ever make up lost ground? We need not have
worried.
They are doing well- remarkably well- in U.S.
schools. And sorne are performing brilliantly. So,
before we become too critica! of our schools and teach–
ers, let's see what these refugee chi ldren can tell us.
One of the largest concentrations of Southeast
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