Comment from Pedrito J
Time: December 31, 2006, 4:51 pm

Racism among kids is usually aimed to attacking gypsy, muslims and southamerican. When dealing with european or north american kids, there are no special differences.

And I say that with absolut ignorance of the matter.

Comment from Linnea
Time: December 31, 2006, 6:04 pm

I’m sorry to hear you have had this experience, but greatful that you shared it here. I have just joined this site. My husband and I are exploring a relocation to Spain. We live in the SF Bay Area in California and although it is a great area we would like to find somewhere that we could both eventually become citizens. I would love to hear more about your experiences as a mom in Spain, how old was your child/ren when you went there, why did you go, where are you from, are your children biracial, bicultural? I am also a public school teacher and have seen very sad examples of how to treat those who are different from us modeled by adults who are nothing more than ignorant. This can and does happen everywhere. Does the administration support this double standard as well?

Comment from Linnea
Time: December 31, 2006, 6:07 pm

Oops, sorry just noticed you are not a mom, but I would still love to hear about your experiences as a parent. Is the area you are living in good for families with children. Do you have any suggestions about fun activities for small children?

Comment from Ben
Time: December 31, 2006, 6:11 pm

Hi Linnea, I am not a parent, so I can’t really comment. The quote above comes from a different site (follow the links above) - I suggest you ask over there as well. Hope we can help in other ways over here though!

Comment from Linnea
Time: December 31, 2006, 6:22 pm

Oh, right, I guess I’m still finding my way, and with lots of interuptions from the little ones I get distracted. But maybe you can help, I’m wondering if you know many Mexicans over there? Are they largely working illegally as here and treated as second class citizens as here? Are there certain areas/neighborhoods were they are concentrated? My husband is from Southern Mexico and we are wondering about a Mexican community over there. I am american and we are pretty fed up with the state of this country. I dont want my kids to grow up under the Bush regime so we are beginning to research other options.

Comment from Jon Hundt
Time: January 1, 2007, 9:28 am

that certainly does sound distressing for a parent planning to move to Spain.

We frequently stay in a small hotel at Carihuela beach in Torremolinos. Right next to us is a grammar school, kids from about 5 to 12 years old. A fair percentage of these kids are ex-pats, lots of English and Dutch kids,as you might expect on the Costa del Sol. I’,ve never seen any incidents there, everyone seems pretty happy and friendly to each other.

I guess it depends on the school, the community, and unfortunately (as Pedrito J stated) your ethnic background.

Comment from Skip
Time: January 1, 2007, 3:14 pm

It’s kinda late to be thinking about leaving the US because of Bush, don’t you think??? of course with “Hillary” making a serious run, then I would encourage you to continue your escape plans

Here is a continuing story of another couple from California, that has settled in Southern Spain, and have a child in School, etc.
http://soultravelers3.com/

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: January 1, 2007, 3:37 pm

Hillary will need some time to clean up the republican mess but I’m sure afterwards things will improve so “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow”.

Comment from Ben
Time: January 3, 2007, 9:18 am

Sorry to say that I have no idea about Mexican comminites here. I should imagine that Mexicans in general are treated much as other South Americans. With respect but not always getting the best jobs… with the exception of the Argentinians who seem to do very well in business in Spain.

Comment from Tali
Time: January 7, 2007, 12:23 am

There are rumours on the Costa del Sol that British expat schoolkids receive this kind of double standards and that there is a problem of Spanish kids ganging up on British kids regularly. However, there are schools here which have something like over 30 nationalities and who live in complete harmony so it is hard to tell. I would probably guess its like Jon says - it just depends on the school and the community.

Comment from Sienna
Time: February 27, 2007, 5:54 pm

I found it a complete exageration the generalizations of racism with foreign kids, it might have happened in one or two cases but it is far from being the norm.

Comment from Keyra
Time: July 11, 2008, 2:18 pm

Yes in my school if was very typical when the children had a fight, the teachers said something to the parents like “Only looked like a game”, “They are only children, nothing serious”, “They were joking” they always said it wasn’t serious even when obviously it was. In my classroom a few people were bullied and the teachers knew it and never did anything about it. It was easy to deny everything. But I wouldn’t say that teachers only behave like that with non spanish students, they behave like that with all students.

Comment from Edith
Time: July 11, 2008, 4:06 pm

Bullying is not a joke, nor is it a game. The psychological damage it inflicts on its victims should not be underestimated.

Comment from Roberto
Time: July 12, 2008, 1:00 am

Uhhh..you people do know that Hillary is out of the race, and will NOT be the next US President, right? Just making sure.

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: July 12, 2008, 1:42 am

@Roberto: Uhhh.. you do know how to read dates were messages, right?