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Teenage Cuban-Americans
In studying teenage acculturation and drug use, Page (1980) finds
that Cuban immigrant youth are confused by the ambivalent feelings ex
pressed by many North Americans regarding the use of hard drugs and
the warnings of Cuban parents that drugs are a terrible vice. Rejection
of parental heritage is stress-producing for the youth because they
have difficulty reproducing the behaviors they seek to emulate, often
finding these behaviors hollow and unfulfilling.
Educational Achievement
A summary report finds that after several years of instruction in
Spanish and English, Spanish-origin, predominately Cuban, students
participating in bilingual programs were achieving at or above national
and local norms on nationally standardized tests (Dade County Public
Schools, 1981).
The 1961 study by Rinn indicates that non-Cuban teachers are unaware
of Cuban culture. This lack of cultural understanding fosters prejudice
and inhibits acculturation among the students. Gomula's work reveals
that the teachers she observed in 1973 were unaware of the distinct
behavior patterns which Cubans and Anglos exhibited. She enumerates
16 significant behavioral differences in Cuban-American and Anglo
elementary school children and recommends that teacher training include
methods and materials for identifying and understanding the nonverbal
as well as the linguistic communication of these two different cultural
groups.