Saturday, April 11

Holidays and work

We've had a few days off (Easter), and visited my parents. My father bought quite an expensive camera, a Leica M8. I just had to try it...


These are typical pastries we have for easter... my mother made them.

Cristina and her dad...

I'm working on different essays right now, so even though I'm not going to school these days, I still have a lot to do. One of my papers is on immigration and education. It's a team project and we're focussing on immigrants from Morocco, because they represent the largest group of migrants here. I interviewed two mothers. they both quit studying when they married (and they were just 18). When I asked them if they like teachers here, and if they should do something in a different way, one of them told me that teachers here are too soft, and they need to spank kids, otherwise "they don't pay attention"!. I told her it's actually illegal, which she didn't know. She didn't understand why her children are so difficult at home, and just assumes she has to hit them, which only makes the problem worse...

5 comments:

Buffalo said...

Why so many from Morocco?

Happy Easter to you and yours, Nuri.

Nuri said...

I think it's because it's the African door to Europe and also, part of Morocco used to be a Spanish protectorate in colonial times. Actually, there's a bit of Moroccan territory that still belongs to Spain, which doesn't make much sense...

James Shott said...

Spanking can be a bad thing, or a good thing, in my humble opinion.

When I was young, the anticipation of being spanked was sufficient deterrence for me, and that must have derived from having been spanked once.

So, if bad behavior can be corrected by a firm hand on a child's behind once or twice, what's the harm?

Nuri said...

I feel there's no need to spank. There are other ways of correcting a kid's behavior without using your hand... Spanking in the way you describe it is probably not so bad, but the problem in these women I was telling you about is that they use it regularly. So much that it probably becomes a habit. One of them told me she has so many problems with her children at home, and I think it's just because they are used to being hit and they resent it. But she sees it as normal, because after all, her own mother still hits her sometimes and she's in her thirties!

James Shott said...

I prefer not to spank, and rarely did spank any of my four.

Most always the threat was enough to reign them in.

It has an effective deterrent effect.