Author Archives: maxnguyen

Teenage pregnancy is skyrocketing, Sex Ed is lagging

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Throughout my very short two years of teaching in Mexico, I’ve noticed a topic that has piqued the interest of my middle school girls. “Teacher” they would call me.  I’d respond and over my shoulder there would be, not one, two but five or six girls nervous to ask me a rather shocking question. They would wait for all the students to leave for their next class and especially for their male teacher, my compañero, to move onto his next teaching session. They would then crowd over me and begin to stutter in their broken English.

“Dime in español chicas. ¿Qué pasa?” I would say.

[Tell me in Spanish girls. What happened?]

“Bueno, no sé maestra. Es que queríamos preguntarle sobre el… el tiempo en el mes,” one of my girls would say.

[Well, I don’t know teacher. It is that we wanted to ask you about the… the time of the month.]

In moments like this, I knew they were talking about a woman’s menstruation cycle. Yes amigo, we have periods. I say this, because in the minds of my 12-, 13-, and 14-year-old boys, bleeding on a monthly basis doesn’t exist. This kind of question is just one of the countless questions I get from my students. Some would be worried about what is going on with their bodies, while others would be scared to ask why they missed their period or why it’s late with the automatic assumption that they are pregnant without having sex. These kinds of situations trouble me. What are these girls learning in school, if not, what are they not learning?

The lack of sex education in Mexican public schools is shocking to my American-self, but rather normal to Mexican students. I tried conducting a class session once talking about the importance of safe sex and menstruation cycles. Most of my girls were interested and giggled while my boys where “disgusted and grossed out” they say. One even complained to the principal of the school and I was sent to a sit down with her regarding the acceptable curriculum to teach in class. What is most interesting to me is the prioritization of teaching subjects. When I have career development sessions in my English classes to get my students thinking about their future, teachers and administrator love it. But something as important as the health of students is degraded and frowned upon in the schools of Mexico.

As teenage pregnancy is increasing in numbers over the years, we can conclude this is related to the absence of good sex education classes and discussions in Mexico’s education system. In this inverse relationship, the lack of sex education results in an increase in teen pregnancy. According to a 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey, “51.9 percent of sexually active females aged 12 to 19 have become pregnant in their teens or younger” (Baral). Furthermore, 1 in 3 girls are mother before turning age 20. As the Global Health Public Relations states, the reason behind this rate is directly correlated to Mexico’s education system:

“In Mexico there is a lack of information about contraceptive methods and how to use the effectively. Almost 25 percent of teenagers surveyed do not know how to use contraceptive methods, while 35 percent responded they haven’t received information about contraception. If so, they still have many doubts. As teenagers continue with their active sex lives, 40 percent do not use contraceptive methods or use them just occasionally. Almost 20 percent of them didn’t plan to have sexual relations, but did anyway.” (Baral)

Though the Mexican federal government claims they are providing students with the proper skills and information they need to succeed in the realm of having a family, students of the system testify otherwise.

“I didn’t know what safe sex was until I was pregnant, and my doctor told me about it,” said one of my students.

The other would comment, “they don’t teach us about it.”

A particularly sad case, “I didn’t know you could get sick from having sex and now I have an STD.”

Lastly, one student shared, “I got pregnant by my boyfriend and he claimed the baby wasn’t his. I was so depressed, I miscarried. I didn’t know depression could do that and my mother died when I was young, and my father is an alcoholic; no one helped me.”

I hope these comments bring a better understanding to the situation for young girls here in Mexico and the lack of a quality education they so deserve. And for those who are teachers, I encourage you to inform your female and male students about the life of sexual activity, that follows it can be very beautiful things and a very difficult road.

Works Cited

Baral, Susmita. “Teen Pregnancy Rates In Mexico: One In Three Pregnant Women In Mexico Are Under 20, New Study Finds.” Latin Times. Newsweek Media Group, 21 July 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2018.

Students in Cancun are working more than studying

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With over 12 premier brands and more than 670 properties in 54 countries, companies like Hyatt Hotel Corporations are rapidly profiting off some of the most resourceful and beautiful regions of the world. And one of these wonders is just a coast away from the United States, oh so close to home! Cancun, often known as ‘the Paradise of the Americas’, holds title to one of the world’s busiest regions during the tourism peak seasons of spring break until late summer. International companies in foreign countries,  like those with American assets in Mexican territories, bring additional changes to the communities whether that is economic, cultural, or environmental aspects. The large presence of transnational corporations in the Yucatan state and Cancun area are bringing strong economic modifications drizzling down to the next generation; students and young adults are quickly shifting interest into joining the tourism workforce industry rather than studying toward a degree to bring larger and long-term financial support.  This is all due to economic instability.

“There are no jobs in Cancun if you don’t speak English,” said Josue, a dear friend of mine who worked in Cancun for a number of years. “It’s expensive to take classes so it’s better to work as a cleaner, learn the language, and slowly climb the chain of command.” Josue Diego began his career as a dish washer and quickly met English speakers where he then began learning the language. Of course there are grammatical errors and difficulty in pronunciation, however, Josue’s English is still better than those who learned it the same way he did.

After much introduction and conversation, Josue quickly learned that I was an English teacher and from there, our conversations about education led to a shocking discovery — a college education was never in his future. Safe to say, it existed when he was a child, but as he entered junior high school, it was “unnecessary because English is more important than a degree.” I cannot imagine one of my junior high students withdrawing from high school due to economic factors. He continued to add up the cost of university, “how can I go to school when my family and I can’t afford to pay for it?” Interestingly, with the high demand of employment, Mexican staff in Cancun also experience labor exploitation where they are paid minimum wage, if not sometimes lower. In a lengthy explanation, Josue shared that he and his colleagues would have missing hours on pay checks or added unidentified taxes. “Sometimes $2 or $3 dollars would be missing. It sounds little, but in Mexican pesos that’s about $40 to $60 [Mexican] pesos, and that’s a lot of money.” Josue does prove a point that although it sounds little to the average foreigner, $40 to $60 Mexican pesos is the equivalent of more than 6 hours of work; the federal minimum wage is roughly $9 pesos an hour (about 50 cents in USD). Now a supervisor of cleaning staff, Josue has worked a long ten years to get where he is. Often time those who follow his same career choice don’t arrive to where he is due to lack of language and other skills.

As the presence of international business increase in Cancun, the priority of education is rapidly changing to employment. It’s become largely confusing to why education is needed when you can teach yourself a language and have some sort of income. In lives just outside the beautiful white walls of resorts and sandy beaches, the surrounding communities are experiencing poverty even with employment. Though Cancun produces one-third of the Mexico’s tourism GDP, much of it belongs to international business and follows with the idea of international money stays in international economics with international businesses. Much of the income comes in but very little is given back to the local community. There is no room for growth and without employment, it’s very difficult to obtain higher education. Using the example of Josue, students are choosing short-term solutions over long-term financial development.

Special Education in the Mexican Context

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On Tuesday, March 13th, Paula Alvarado Cañada came out talk to us about the goals and changing nature of Special Education in Mexico. Maestra Paula is a retired master teacher, who has worked with students with a wide range of abilities and skills. Her expertise was incredibly valuable for those of us studying to be teachers.

The class started with a simulation activity to help us imagine life as students with disabilities and their teachers. Three students were given some kind of impairment – a blindfold, a tied up leg, or plugged ears. Their “teachers” then had to lead the students in simple activities, like a walk around the yard or a crayon drawing. As the activity progressed, we were given more considerations: what if this student was ten years old and had never been to school before? What if the student had no conventional language? What if the materials that you’re given are completely inaccessible to your students? In this case, it is the job of the teacher to be responsive, adaptive, and creative.

Our talk specifically focused on two types of Special Education systems in Mexico. The first are CAM’s, special schools for education of students with disabilities. Until age thirteen, students are in the “basic” CAM, which teaches basic skills like literacy and beginning math and science. Older students then enter the “labor” CAM, which teaches a trade skill. These programs have relationships with local employers so that graduates can immediately get jobs as restaurant workers, cleaning staff, massage therapists, or any number of other jobs. In contrast, the USAER program sends a multidisciplinary team (including a psychologist, a social worker, a special education instructor) into regular education schools. These professionals act as support staff to classroom teachers who face challenges such as students with disabilities, students living in unstable home environments, or exceptionally gifted students. These support staff work to make sure that all students have access to the class and the resources and support they need to be successful.

Additionally, Maestra Paula talked briefly about the effects of policy changes on Special Education programs. For example, recent legislation has opted toward an “integration” policy, including more students with disabilities into regular classrooms. The job of the teacher is very different depending on what students are in the classroom and what special needs and disabilities the students bring. Maestra Paula’s accounts of how her own career and responsibilities changed with different policies served as a good reminder that outside forces will always play a role in the responsibilities of the teacher, and that we must be ready to adapt our classrooms for many different types of students.

This workshop served as a valuable reminder of the teacher’s job to serve all students. Maestra Paula is clearly an educator who values her students’ learning experience, skills, and abilities, instead of simply a diagnosis of a disability. She is a wonderful example of an educator who values her students’ learning.

National Education Budget Comparison: Mexico Against the World

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Each year, politicians and government officials spend a large portion of their time fighting for just a small piece of the national budget to benefit towards their goals and interests as representatives of the community. In small towns like Amatlán, a town representative may be fighting towards a small education budget to benefit the remodeling of primary school. Or in larger cities like Cuernavaca, a city mayor may be interested in a larger budget from the national funds to increase teacher salaries or to increase extracurricular activities in public schools. But due to Mexico’s history and reputation of governmental corruption, it begs the question of exactly how much of this money is actually benefiting the systems it’s given specifically for.

In April 2017, fugitive former governor of Mexico’s Veracruz state, Javier Duarte, was arrested in Guatemala by Interpol for accusations just a year before of organized crime and money laundering (Associated Press). It was estimated at least $645 million Mexican pesos were siphoned off by the governor during his time in office from 2010 to 2016 (“Fugitive”). Under Duarte’s administration, Veracruz also interestingly became “the most dangerous region of the country for journalists,” with 17 killed during his term. Due to the accusations, Duarte was suspended from his party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (El Partido Revolucionario Institucional), also commonly known as PRI, which governed Mexico for the past seventy years and is the party of the current President, Enrique Peña Nieto. Research conducted by María Amparo Casar, the Executive President of the activist group Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity, founded that “of 42 governors suspected of corruption since 2000, only 17 were investigated” and “before the most recent arrests, only three were in jail” (Malkin). Another great example is Tomás Yárrington, the former governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas arrested in Italy just weeks before Duarte’s arrest. Yárrington was arrested on charges from Mexico and the United States for money laundering and organized crime where he accepted bribes from drug cartels in exchange for free reign in his state.

According to the World Bank, Mexico has gradually increased its spending on education between 1989 to 2014 with a low point of 2.265% of the GDP invested in education in 1989, and a high peak at 2014 with 5.313%. That’s roughly about $0.24 MXN trillion pesos of $4.50 trillion MXN pesos ($18.23 billion USD of $343.11 billion USD) (Reuters Staff). In comparison with some well-known countries for education, Finland, Belgium, and Switzerland are holding title as Independent’s top three in the world for 2016 (Willams-Grut). In 2014, Finland’s government had a total expenditure of 7.168% of its GDP on education; Belgium with 6.585%; and Switzerland with 5.096%, just slightly below Mexico. A common pattern here with the exception of Switzerland is a somewhat linear relationship between government spending and quality of education – “the more invested in education, the better it’s quality.”

Mexico's education budget in comparison with that of other countries

Mexico’s education budget percentage

Wait, Mexico has a close percentage to other countries, why is its education quality not as ‘good’? Well, it begs the question of exactly just how much is actually being invested into the schools, resources, and programs for educational growth? A study conducted by John W. Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University in Connecticut, analyzed trends in literate behavior and the literacy rates of over 60 countries. Among the top ten were Nordic countries (in consecutive order from first place to tenth) Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark Sweden, Switzerland, United States, Germany, Latvia, and the Netherlands. And among the bottom ten from 50th place to 60th consecutively are Turkey, Georgia, Tunisia, Malaysia, Albania, Panama, South Africa, Colombia, Morocco, Thailand, Indonesia and Botswana. Mexico sits roughly in the middle at country #38.

Works Cited

Associated Press. “Fugitive Mexican Governor Javier Duarte Arrested for Alleged Corruption.” Www.telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited, 16 Apr. 2017. Web. 27 Feb. 2018.

“Fugitive Mexican Governor Javier Duarte Arrested in Guatemala.” BBC. BBC, 16 Apr. 2017. Web. 27 Feb. 2018.

“Government Expenditure on Education, Total (% of GDP).” World Bank. The World Bank Group, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2018.

Malkin, Elisabeth. “Corruption at a Level of Audacity ‘Never Seen in Mexico’.” New York Times. The New York Times Company, 19 Apr. 2017. Web. 27 Feb. 2018.

Reuters Staff. “Mexican Congress Completes 2014 Budget Approval.” Reuters. Reuters, 14 Nov. 2014. Web. 28 Feb. 2018.

Strauss, Valerie. “Most Literate Nation in the World? Not the U.S., New Ranking Says.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2018.

United States of America. U.S. Department of Education. Nces.ed.gov. National Center for Education Statistics, 2017. Web. 27 Feb. 2018.

Willams-Grut, Oscar. “The 11 Best School Systems in the World.” Independent. Independent Digital News & MediaIndependent Digital News & Media, 18 Nov. 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2018.