Information Effect

Discrimination has always been a big problem in all over the world and after so much damage

sadly it still happens. Many know discrimination happens in public as in the stores, parks, and it can even

happen in your own neighborhood. What many people probably don’t know is how much it can happen

in a school. Schools are considered a bully free zone and everyone gets along with everyone but that’s

not necessarily the case for many.

Latinos are faced with discrimination sadly a lot. Reason why it is important to talk about

discrimination against the latino community is because according to a Pew research poll “Latino people

are the 2nd most discriminated against ethnic group after African-Americans…” Many wonder how it

affects Latino/a and or who it affects the most. Many research studies have shown that in High School

many Latino men and Latinas have a less success rate in receiving a highschool diploma because of their

experience with teachers and their overall experience in high school. Discrimination does not just happen

peers againist other peers, but teachers can also have a big impact on them too. According to a research

done by the Journal of Research on Adolescence states, “278 Latina/o youth found a significant inverse

association between racial discrimination and academic well-being… A longitdunail study of 578

Mexican-origin adolescents showed that perceptions of more teacher and peer discrimination were related

to poorer academic attidtues and academic performance” (Cooper, Sanchez). Teachers have a big impact

on students like how students can be inspired by teachers and they can also be discouraged and

discriminated against by teachers (Cooper, Sanchez). This affects Latinx students to a great extent

because when they feel unmotivated the less they try. An article called “ 11 Facts About Discrimination

and Poverty in the Latino Community states, “ In 2011, less than 30% of Hispanic students graduated

from high school, and less than 4% earned advanced college degrees.”

Education wise Latino men suffer more in school because of discrimination. According to the

article by Journal of Research on Adolescences states, “ Male youth are more likely to experience

discrimination and report receiving more negative treatment in social and education settings compared
with their female counterparts” (Cooper, Sanchez). This typically means that boys often experience more

discrimination than girls and it can affect them hard school wise, but this does not mean that it doens’t

affect girls. It can affect them both but generally speaking the research has found that it affects boys

more than girls. Cooper and Sanchez state that although Latino boys and Latina girls suffer

discriminaiton it affects boys more than girls and this leads to not feeling motivated to work on school.

On the other hand girls have a better GPA and better attendance in school even while experiencing

discrimination.

Another question people wonder is what school year do students start to experience

discrimination. Normally students start to experience discrimination at a young age. Like mentioned

before students can suffer discrimination from teachers early in their education. Nonetheless students

start experiencing discrimination starting of middle school which starts in 7th grade, but most students

start experimenting discrimination more starting in the 8th grade (Cooper, Sanchez). The (In)significance

of Race and Discrimination Among Latino Youth states, “Latino youth believed other were racially

biased against them and thought of them as dangerous and not smart.” This is a sad thing to think

because people are automatically racially profiling a person without knowing them just because of their

race. This can also discourage a student from doing better because all they think about is not being smart

enough and needing to find something else to do.

A big thing to consider is the amount of Latino/as experience discrimination. A research done by

Pew research center did a research on how people view them on the streets. The first research conducted

was how people would see them and automatically assumed they were Latino. The next research was the

percentage of Latinos experienced discrimination more than once during a certain period of time. Graph

below describes the types of discrimination people have encountered with and the percentages.
 Sources

11 facts about discrimination and poverty in the Latino community. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15,

2021, from https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-discrimination-and-poverty-

latino-community

Brown, C. S., & Chu, H. (2012). Discrimination, Ethnic Identity, and Academic Outcomes of

Mexican Immigrant Children: The Importance of School Context.

Burgos, G., & Rivera, F. (2009, May). The (In)Significance of Race and Discrimination among

Latino Youth: The Case of Depressive Symptoms. Retrieved from

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41633823.

Cooper, A., & Sanchez, B. (n.d.). The Roles of Racial Discrimination, Cultural Mistrust, and

Gender in Latina/o Youth's School Attitudes and Academic Achievement.

Lopez, M., Gonzalez-Barrera, A., & Krogstad, J. (2020, August 27). Latinos' experiences with

discrimination. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from

https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2018/10/25/latinos-and-discrimination