Presented By: Brenda, Celina, Tracy, Vanessa, Frank, Donald and Shawn

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Presented ByBrenda, Celina, Tracy, Vanessa,
Frank, Donald and Shawn

• Puerto Rican Children Now

Puerto Rican Children Now

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Study Questions

• What are two factors that contribute to high
  poverty rate in Puerto Rican families? low
  earnings capacity, inadequate financial support
  provided by nonresidential fathers
• What is a negative consequence for Puerto Rican
  children living in poverty? risk of health
  problems
• What do Puerto Rican children place under their
  beds during the Feast of Epiphanys Eve on Jan
  6th? Water and grass for the Three Kings camels.
• What is the tradition that commemorates going
  from girlhood to womanhood? Quinceaneros.
• Why is pride so important in Puerto Rican
  families? It helps to maintain the family
  structure.
• What saying is taught to Puerto Rican children?
  Accepto lo que dios me mande (I accept whatever
  God will offer me).
• What are three of the positive effects of
  including extended family members in a childs
  education? extended support system, differing
  points of view, family members fluent in English
  Spanish.
• What are two factors interfering with the success
  of Puerto Rican students in school? Unprepared
  teachers lack of resources in Spanish in U.S.
  schools.
• What craze is popular with adolescents in Puerto
  Rico? Pokemon
• What is the most loved sport among Puerto Rican
  male youth? Baseball.
• What is a traditional dish popular with Puerto
  Rican children? Arroz con pollo.
• What is an easy treat for children that is made
  in the freezer? Limbers.
• What respiratory disease is reported highest
  among Puerto Rican children? Asthma.
• What percentage of Puerto Rican children in the
  U.S. live in poverty? 40.

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Family Structure and Economic Well-Being

• Study Questions
• What are two factors that contribute to high
  poverty rate in Puerto Rican families?
• What is a negative consequences for Puerto Rican
  children living in poverty?

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Family Structure and Economic Well-Being

• Consequence of high divorce rates and increase in
  non-marital births among Puerto Ricans, result in
  children raised in female headed households
• 27 of Hispanic children in US live in
  mother-only families
• Strong relationship between family structure and
  child poverty
• 3 out of 4 Puerto Rican families living below
  poverty level are female headed

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Family Structure and Economic Well-Being

• Factors that contribute to high poverty rate in
  families headed by a woman low earnings
  capacity, inadequate financial support provided
  by nonresidential fathers, and limited welfare
  benefits provided by the state.
• Negative consequences for Puerto Rican children
  risk of health problems, delayed intellectual
  development and poor school performance.

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Traditions

• Study Questions
• What do Puerto Rican children place under their
  beds during the Feast of Epiphanys Eve on Jan
  6th?
• What is the tradition that commemorates going
  from girlhood to womanhood?

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Holiday Traditions

• Santos Innocents On Dec 28th, Puerto Ricans
  celebrate la fiesta in commemoration of the
  soldiers who killed the 1st born boys 0-2 from
  every family, fearing a new messiah. Children
  dress up as soldiers playing practical jokes on
  one another.
• Parrandas Christmas caroling where families go
  to unsuspecting friends houses and serenade them
  with aguinaldos (christmas songs).
• Ano Nuevo say goodbye to old year welcome new
  year by eating twelve grapes at midnight. Brings
  prosperity.

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Holiday Traditions cont.

• Throw bucket of water into street to rid home of
  bad things prepare for arrival of good things.
• Misa de Gallo is a Misa de Aguinaldo (Catholic
  Mass) held at midnight on Christmas Eve.
• Children dress as angels nativity characters
  during this religious service.
• Feast of Epiphanys Eve - On eve of Jan 6th
  children place water grass under their beds for
  the Three Kings (wise men) camels in return
  Three Kings bring presents leave under
  childrens beds.

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Other Traditional Events

• Weddings Customary at Puerto Rican wedding
  reception to place a doll dressed like the bride
  at the tables with souvenirs attached to dress of
  doll, some people pin dollars to the dress for
  the couple.
• Quinceaneros tradition that commemorates going
  from girlhood to womanhood.
• The Guayabera traditional dress for males on
  the island.
• Dominoes Traditionally played in bars other
  public places by males in Puerto Rico.
• Azabache Bracelets Newborn babies wear them to
  protect from the evil eye that is a result of
  excessive admiration or envious looks by others.

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Values and Morals

• Study Questions
• Why is pride so important in Puerto Rican
  families?
• What saying is taught to Puerto Rican children?

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Values and Morals

• Children are important in the Puerto Rican
  American family carry on traditions culture
  take care of their elderly parents.
• Children brought up to please father who
  traditionally tells stories passed through
  generations.
• Children taught to carry out cultural
  expectations chores, respect, do things a la
  buena (the nice way), cooking.

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Values and Morals cont.

• Pride very important to Puerto Rican-American
  household.
• Pride created through collective effort of all
  family members, helps to maintain family
  structure.
• Children expected to maintain socially
  constructed gender roles.
• Puerto Rican-Americans proud of cultural
  celebrations. Family friends come together for
  food, music dancing. Children are a big part of
  festivities are never excluded.

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Values and Morals cont.

• Puerto Rican-American children still raised with
  traditional spiritual beliefs of culture.
• Catholic or Protestant as well as supernatural
  beliefs play a large role in childrens
  upbringing.
• Accepto lo que dios me mande (I accept whatever
  God will offer me) familiar saying and belief is
  taught to children.
• Believe forces beyond their control contribute to
  hardships
• Puerto Rican-American families feel American
  influence negatively effecting their children.

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Education

• Study Questions
• What are three of the positive effects of
  including extended family members in a child's
  education?
• What are two factors interfering with the success
  of Puerto Rican students in school?

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Education

• Issues
• Bilingualism Biculturalism
• -Attempting to learn new language culture
  while also participating in traditional language
  culture.
• -Controversy in Puerto Rico over which language
  to speak and how often 1997 Secretary of
  Education, Victor Fajardos Project to Create
  a Bilingual Citizen.
• Parent/Family the School System
• -reaching out to untapped resource in nuclear
  extended families of students (aunts, uncles,
  grandparents)

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Education cont.

• Parent/Family School System
• -lack of information in Spanish (lack of
  knowledge about school system student progress.
• -lack of personal outreach by administrators.
• Students Feelings of Inadequacy/Alienation
• Unprepared Teachers
• -Unprepared to teach bicultural children and/or
  reach out to additional resources

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Education cont.

• Solutions
• Interact w/nuclear family extended family
  members to give students additional resources
  support.
• Provide information in both English Spanish.
• Meetings to update parents on student progress
• Educate teachers w/multicultural
  classes/conferences.
• Increase funding for tutoring educational
  classes.
• Help! They Dont Speak English Kit for Primary
  Teachers.
• Online http//www.escort.org/products/helpkit.html
  
• Free copy 1-800-451-8058

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Games Sports

• Study Questions?
• What craze is popular with adolescents in Puerto
  Rico?
• What is the most loved sport among Puerto Rican
  male youth?

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Pokemon Fever

• 1999 - Pokemon fever notable in Puerto Rico and
  U.S.
• Craze began as video game, then flooded
  collectible market.
• Pokemon cards and accessories so popular during
  1999, lawmakers investigated effect on market
  penetration.
• Concern regarding fights between children in U.S.
  over Pokemon cards accessories.

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Swimming

• Extremely popular in Atlantic and Caribbean
  Puerto Rican communities.
• Youth and adolescence compete in swimming,
  diving, and surf sports.
• Both Island-based and U.S. Puerto Ricans
  contribute to the U.S. world of water sports.
• Puerto Rican youth idolize and aspire to be like
  those who compete.

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Baseball

• Most popular sport among Puerto Rican male youth.
• Of Puerto Rican descent, Reggie Jackson
  considered one of the best players in U.S.
• Other popular sports with Puerto Rican youth
  Basketball, Boxing, Golf, Horse Racing Tennis.

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Other Recreational Activities

• During annual event, The Ko-Thi Dance Company
  presented Bombale (Bomba is a drum from Puerto
  Rico.
• Combination of rumba mambo steel drums and the
  Puerto Rican Bomba
• In its 35th season, the Ko-Thi Dance Company gave
  a tribute to Caribbean dance forms.

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Food

• Study Questions
• What is a traditional dish popular with Puerto
  Rican children?
• What is an easy treat for children that is made
  in the freezer?

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Food

• Many Puerto Rican families have fruit trees in
  their own backyards.
• Bananas, Plantains, Coconuts are some fruits
  favored by Puerto Rican children.
• Guavas and Guayabes are also popular and are made
  into delicious jelly that children enjoy eating.
• Arroz con Pollo is a favorite chicken dish of
  Puerto Rican children.
• Polvo de Amor (love power) - Coconut mixed with
  sugar and cooked in a kettle until golden brown
  is a tasty but unhealthy snack children love.
• An easy snack for children to make is Limbers
  freeze any juice in ice-cube trays to make this.

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Food cont.

• Unfortunately, the foods just mentioned are
  becoming the old way of eating for most Puerto
  Ricans.
• Much of the food imported to Puerto Rico is from
  the U.S.
• Fast food has become very popular with
  adolescents in Puerto Rico.

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Health Issues

• Study Questions?
• What Ethnicity is most prone to Asthma? Puerto
  Rican children between ages 6 months to 11 years.
• What percentage of Puerto Rican children in U.S.
  live in poverty? 40

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Asthma

• Asthma complex disease associated with
  genetics, allergies (cockroaches dust mites),
  mildews, molds environment.
• 20 to 30 of Puerto Rican children living in
  inner cities have highest reported rate among
  Americans with asthma.
• Puerto Rican minority group bears
  disproportionate burden of all respiratory
  diseases.

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Obesity

• Typical Puerto Rican adolescent diet is high in
  calories, complex carbohydrates, fats and sodium.
• Almost 70 of the food on the island of Puerto
  Rico is imported from U.S. has become very
  Americanized.
• Fast food very popular.
• Population tendency towards high blood pressure,
  heart disease, diabetes (3to times higher than
  the general population), cancer, arthritis,
  gastrointestinal disorders and obesity.

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Lead Poisoning

• 1997 report by Environmental Defense Fund
  (Washington-based environmental group), revealed
  80 of Puerto Rican children of low income
  families in inner cities have unsafe amounts of
  lead in their blood.
• Sufficient to reduce IQ, harm hearing, ability to
  concentrate, stunt physical growth.
• Puerto Rican children living in U.S. have serious
  health issues - Reason 40 live in poverty

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Bibliography

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