Counseling Latino immigrants in middle school.

The increase of Latino immigrants in the United States places more pressure on school counselors to assist in the adjustment of Latino students entering school systems (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). This may particularly affect schools that only a few years ago had no Latino immigrants. This article addresses how one Southern school district's counseling program is working to meet the needs of its non-English-speaking Latino middle school students by hiring a Spanish-speaking counselor and offering intervention strategies to facilitate the transition and adjustment of incoming students.

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Latino families place great importance on family and traditional values, a concept referred to as familismo. Tightly knit families composed of uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins, and parents guide youngsters as they mature into adulthood (Halgunseth, 2004; Triandis, Marin, Hui, Lisansky, & Ottati, 1984). While this cultural picture of Latino families is quite common, recently immigrated Latino middle school students may project a somewhat different picture than Latino students raised in the United States. Often crossing the border under extremely stressful situations, these students enter the school system burdened with their experiences, confused because they lack language skills to communicate, and wary of their new situation (Suro, 1998). Immigrating primarily from Central America, but also from South America and the Caribbean Islands, these students present a challenge to the middle school counselor unaccustomed to dealing with students who do not speak English.

It is not difficult to see the need for counseling with Latino students. These students experience challenges common to middle-level students such as physical changes, a desire to be part of a group, and a desire to become more self-sufficient and self-reliant (Muro & Kottman, 1995). In addition, they often leave their family and friends who have served as their support group and relocate to a place where they are not familiar with the resources, language, or culture. Adjusting to their new environment may be a difficult process for them.

Aside from problems associated with any middle school student, Latino middle school immigrants have a number of specific issues that differ from their Anglo counterparts and from Latino students raised in the United States. They may lack appropriate clothing for the climate, be living in substandard housing, be unfamiliar with modern technology, have difficulty eating cafeteria food they find unpleasant tasting, or feel burdened with excessive household responsibilities. Students and their families may experience undue stress as a result of financial insecurity and find access to health care limited (Lopez, 2001). Vernez and Abrahamse (as cited in Ruiz-de-Velasco & Fix, 2000) noted that 12% of limited English proficiency middle school immigrants had missed 2 or more years of schooling. Therefore, some immigrant Latino middle school students may be several years older than the typical middle school student. Pederson and Carey (2003) suggested that school counselors have the potential to reduce the barriers to immigrant students' academic success. Among their suggestions is the provision of counseling to address the stresses, cultural differences, and traumas experienced by students.

School counselors can address many of the problems of recently immigrated Latino middle school students using a variety of individual and group interventions. These students need a support system, help with adjustment issues, and information about available resources. This article describes the experience of a Southern school district and its effort to meet the counseling needs of a rapidly expanding immigrant Latino middle school student population. The use of individual and group interventions provided by a Spanish-speaking counselor facilitates communication, enabling students to express and deal with their emotional issues.

ONE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S EXPERIENCE

Ten years ago, a large school district in the Southern part of the United States saw enrollment trends begin to change with the influx of Latino families migrating to work in local industries. The population of middle school students (grades 6 to 8) whose home language was Spanish grew from 202 in 1995 to 957 in 2004. The increase in the overall district's population during this period was approximately 50% while the Latino middle school population increased 380%. Today, approximately 31% of the district's middle school students are of Latino origin. Mexican immigrants make up the majority (75%) of the Latino population and an additional 25% are primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Initially, non-English-speaking students requiring counseling did so with the assistance of professional translators. However, when no other option was present, counselors used anyone who was bilingual and available to translate. As the number of Latino students grew, it became apparent to the director of counseling that the need for counseling services in Spanish was critical. The school district's Board of Directors approved the position of district-wide counselor for Latino students, and following an extensive search, the district hired a Spanish-speaking counselor.

The district counselor of Latino students encountered various challenges dealing with students from a wide variety of Latino subcultures. Not only did immigrant students have varying modes of being, but also, students from different parts of the same country exhibited varying levels of education, maturity, and abilities. The first challenge involved language. The linguistic differences of these Latino students created difficulties in providing services to this population even for a Spanish-speaking counselor. Students' dialect presented itself in different ways such as the tempo of speech, accentuation, and use of slang. Furthermore, Latino students who came from the cities, as opposed to the rural areas of their native countries, seemed better equipped academically for adaptation to the district's school system.

A second challenge for the Spanish-speaking Latino counselor was determining the immediate needs of middle school immigrants. Through an ongoing exchange of information with teachers, administrators, and Latino students, the counselor collected feedback to help with the task. Teachers provided the counselor with input regarding difficulties they experienced (e.g., students copying other students' work). Principals described frustrations they had encountered specific to Latino students (e.g., student attire they felt was inappropriate). Additionally, Latino students who had been in the district for a year or more described challenges they had experienced and suggested topics the counselor should consider addressing. Based on this input, the district's Spanish-speaking counselor created several group interventions that addressed these specific topics.

COUNSELING INTERVENTIONS FOR LATINO MIDDLE SCHOOL IMMIGRANTS

Helping new immigrant middle school students to create social networks was found to be an important first step for the Spanish-speaking counselor. Support networks are especially important because adolescent immigrants are at high risk of dropping out or of being unprepared academically to attend college because they often lack informed, highly educated parents (Delgado Gaitan, 2004). Stimulating relationships by assigning a buddy to help students learn where classes are located, negotiate the nuances of obtaining lunch, meet new teachers, and find their bus home the first day helps develop these support networks.

The counselor's daily experiences interacting with new middle school students indicated that many urgently needed individual counseling. After one to two individual counseling sessions focusing on immediate concerns, students frequently reported being more at ease and happier about their new surroundings. Additionally, a series of counselor-led interventions was designed to create cultural awareness and support networks for immigrant Latino middle school students. First, a three-session, small-group unit geared toward addressing common issues focuses on helping students understand that they are not alone. During the first session, students draw a sketch of the people with whom they are currently living and share the information with each other. Understanding the home structure enables the counselor to address students' needs more appropriately. In the second session, students are offered the opportunity to talk about their family here and in their home country, describe what they like and dislike about their new home, share what is difficult for them, and describe any fears they may have. During the third session, students talk about personal goals. Following this, the group discusses the American school system and how it differs from their educational system.

One area regarding the educational system that is difficult for Latino students involves the issue of cheating. Latino students often view what Americans call cheating as merely helping their friends or family members. It is something they often are encouraged and expected to do by their families to demonstrate familial and peer support. Educating immigrant middle school students about how their new school views "helping" assists in the adjustment process. Following a counselor-led review of the cultural differences associated with cheating, small groups of middle school students enter their opinions and observations regarding cheating on a chart. Students respond to statements such as "Describe situations where you have seen students cheat in this school," and "List reasons why you think teachers encourage you not to cheat." Through discussion, the counselor then guides students to an awareness of behavior that could potentially cause them problems with their teachers.

Another intervention concentrates on socially appropriate modes of dress within the schools. All cultures, and subcultures, tend to have certain ways of dressing and middle school students are at an age in which either they are ready to experiment with their own style of dressing or they want to dress like members of a particular group. Latino immigrant students are no exception. Latino girls may be inclined to dress in tight-fitting clothing and boys may find baggy clothing, sometimes associated with gangs, appealing. A counselor-led intervention on appropriate and inappropriate dress for school helps students become aware of appropriate attire. Using fashion magazines, students select and display photos of young adult models. The counselor then points out aspects of clothing that are and are not appropriate for school. Students then draw their own version of appropriate and inappropriate clothing on photocopied outlines of male and female figures.

Throughout the year, invited speakers share information with middle school students on topics that the counselor and teachers identify as relevant to middle school students' needs. One topic of great importance is diabetes because "the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is 1.5 times higher in Latinos than non-Latino whites" (American Diabetes Association, n.d.). Information on the relationship between diet and diabetes provides a basis upon which students can make wise choices. Information on harassment and bullying (to which minorities often are exposed) and suicide (an avenue not uncommon for young Hispanic females) is presented to middle school immigrants as a means of addressing their emotional well-being. In an effort to expand the support network previously mentioned, Latino adults who have successfully entered the workforce are invited to speak to groups of students, share the difficulties they had as young immigrants, and describe their route to success.

Immigrant middle school students' parents or guardians also receive assistance from the district Latino counselor. Through after-school programs and group conferences, the counselor is able to address a number of issues common to the parents or guardians of middle school Latino students. Parents or guardians of eighth-grade students are invited for small group sessions where the counselor discusses career options, options for high school coursework, required and elective credits, and post-secondary education preparation. These counselor-led interventions allow the counselor to educate and facilitate the transition and adjustment process of middle school Latino students and their parents or guardians.

COUNSELORS ASSISTING IN TRANSITION AND ADJUSTMENT

Counselors must attend to the stress that Latino middle school immigrant students experience as they attempt to adapt to their new culture (Smart & Smart, 1995). A strength of this district's counseling program is the ability of the district's Latino counselor to communicate with students in their native language. Activities, conducted in Spanish, specifically designed to address adjustment issues of middle school students mediate the acculturative stress experienced by the students. Individual counseling in Spanish allows the counselor to establish a supportive relationship with Latino middle school immigrant students more rapidly. Allowing students to convey their thoughts and feelings in Spanish helps overcome issues common to new immigrant middle school students. These issues include a reluctance to discuss personal matters, feeling a lack of support, and needing skills to communicate in English (Smart & Smart). Speaking in Spanish, students feel less pressure to rapidly adapt to their new culture and feel more comfortable integrating their values with their new cultural values using educated choices.

Through the use of interventions that address specific adjustment issues of immigrant Latino middle school students, the counselor is able to make connections with students. Interventions focused specifically on students' needs, sharing information with them about their new culture, and staying involved with the students throughout the middle school years enable the Spanish-speaking counselor to address unique immigrant issues and to provide students with a means to communicate. With these individual and group counseling interventions, the counselor creates a basis for establishing social relationships, thereby facilitating the transition and adjustment process.

References

American Diabetes Association. (n.d.). Diabetes statistics for Latinos. Retrieved February 27, 2005, from http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/latinos.jsp

Delgado Gaitan, C. (2004). Involving Latino families in schools: Raising student achievement through home-school partnerships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Halgunseth, L. C. (2004). Continuing research on Latino families. In M. Coleman & L. H. Ganong (Eds.), Handbook of contemporary families (pp. 333-351). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Lopez, G. R. (2001).The value of hard work: Lessons on parent involvement from an (im)migrant household. Harvard Educational Review, 71, 416-437.

Muro, J. J., & Kottman, T. (1995). Guidance and counseling in the elementary and middle schools: A practical approach. Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark.

Pederson, P. B., & Carey, J. C. (2003). Multicultural counseling in the schools: A practical handbook. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Ruiz-de-Velasco, J., & Fix, M. (2000). Overlooked and underserved: Immigrant students in U.S. secondary schools. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.

Smart, J. F., & Smart, D. W. (1995). Acculturative stress of Hispanics: Loss and challenge. Journal of Counseling & Development, 73, 390-397.

Suro, R. (1998). Strangers among as: Latino lives in a changing America. New York: Knopf.

Triandis, H. C., Marin, G., Hui, C. H., Lisansky, J., & Ottati, V. (1984). Role perceptions of Hispanic young adults. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15, 297-320.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2004). Statistical abstract of the United States: 2004-2005 (124th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Antoinette R. Thorn is a district Latino counselor for Rogers Public Schools and adjunct faculty for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. E-mail: [e-mail] Susana Contreras is a Ph.D. graduate student at the University of Arkansas. E-mail: [e-mail]