A School Divided

Boutcher C of E Primary School A 31 May 2019
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Hayley Hassall from Newsround (BBC - I'll leave a link for you to watch it at the end) is going round, interviewing people with different perspectives of the wall. She does many episodes in the series, but I will look at only one "report", if you will, occassionally putting my opinions and thoughts in it. The episode is called...

A School Divided

At the very start of this video, they show 3 students saying what they think of the wall. One says, "I think living with the wall is like an adventure; you never know what's going to happen". I find this very upsetting: "you never know what's going to happen". They live in Mexico, and cross the border to go to school; meaning they don't know if they're actually going to get to school. I guess this sounds a little like Brexit. You don't really know what's going to happen until they announce it; for example, there had been rumours about May stepping down; only a few days ago did they actually declare it. Another states that it's something that he has to learn to embrace and something that can maybe help him to grow as a person. I guess I do understand him; why sulk when you can get on with your life? I think it's right for him to try and get on with what he has to do in life. The last girl says, "The wall is a waste of money, really. You could use the money on other important issues.". I think this is possibly the one I most agree on, because I, personally, disagree with the wall, and there are many more important issues to deal with. Also the fact that Trump insits time and time again that he IS going to build the wall, even by declaring it an emergency, frustrates me the most. The second boy also says something quite interesting at the end of this part, "People are desperate for opportunities. A wall isn't going to stop them". What do you think this means? What kind of opportunities?

The school is right next to the Border Wall. Despite it being in America, 85% of the students live in Mexico. Each and every day, the children make a long and dangerous way accross the border just to get an American education. The journey is approximately 3 hours long. This is stunning, as it only takes me 5-10 mins to go to school by WALK.

Sol, one of the children Hayley meets, has a student visa, which allows her to come to the U.S.A, even though she lives in Mexico. She says that before, she hated waking up early to go to school, but now she rather likes it. She also says that she thinks her English is better that it wouldv'e been if she studied at a school in Mexico. You can see that even Sol recognises this, and, by saying this, she is greatful for it. Before the border wall, and before President Trump, she only used to get checked only "once every 4, 5 months" but now she has gotten inspected a lot of times only this month.

Hayley asks why they make the journey. One boy says that there are a lot of opportunities in the States, "But it's just whether you take them". I don't know about you, but I love that quote. I also agree with it. I believe this is important with anything; not just with school.

In a recent incident, some border-security people came out with shields, and started pushing everyone back. The girl says it was a bad experience.

Later on, they say that despite everything that Donald Trump has put on the wall; the barbed wire at the top, Mexicans will still find a way to cross the border. This is really quite dramatic, but I see where they are coming from; after all, this is their opportunity to get a better life. Why on earth wouldn't they take it?

When asked if they are ever worried about losing their visas, a boy says that maybe not to them, since they are American citizens. But then, Sol says that she's a Mexican citizen, and goes on to explaining how she crosses the wall,

"I have to carry, like, 2 passports and this entry card so I can go through. If I cross, like, a mango, they'll take my visa - 'cos mangoes, you can't cross them. If I forget my passport when I'm crossing, they could cancel my visa for, like, 3 months"

This means that she is constantly living in fear that her visa might be taken away. It could happen. I'm sure that if I was living under all that stress ("I have to remember this"; "I can't forget that" etc.), I don't think I'd be able to even wake up in the morning! I couldn't live like that, so I admire those who can.

The headmaster himself is Mexican, and he says that we wrongly look at America as the "saviour of all worlds" and by doing that, we fail to recognise that there are lots of problems "just on the other side of the fence", meaning in Mexico. I like the way he put that, which is why I put it in quotation marks.

His next words state that he's not giving the children at his school a new identity or anything, but that the school will help and prepare them for success and greatness. He goes on to say that what they learn here, if they decide to go back home, then, hopefully, that will stick with them and they can take that back to make changes, good changes and, "still have a wonderful, beautiful life".

In Conclusion, they all agree that America is the land of opportunities.

I think watching this has given me a real-life insight on what is actually happening, and that I should be greatful for my education, and that I don't have to go through all this trouble - applying for visas, waking up EXTRA early, crossing the wall, avoiding border officers, getting searched and much more - just to get an American education full of opportunities.

I hope you understand the importance of this, too.

I find it very upsetting that people - children - have to go through all this for a better life, whereas people like me, born in the U.K, not knowing what poverty feels like, just take things for granted...

This is the link for the website/video I watched and used for this post:

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