Teaching kids about immigration

[stepmonster15]

I've got an 11-year old stepdaughter who has been told by her mother that all immigration is bad because immigrants "steal our jobs". I'd really like to point her towards some information that can help her to make her own mind up about immigration - the causes and the effects. Does anyone know of any good teaching resources for kids about this subject?

fullfact.org/finder/immigration

This isnt specifically for children, but is reasonably accessible.

This girl is your stepdaughter. You are not her mother. If her father wishes to indoctinate her with different polical views to those of her mother that is his decision but as just a step mother you should avoid getting involved in controversial political matters especially with a stepdaughter who is as young as this. This is a real can of worms.

How would you feel if a step mother was teaching your child political attitudes which differed from your own? Pretty angry I suspect!

I couldn't disagree enough. If my stepson's father wanted to be a racist ignoramus I would see it as my responsibility to teach my stepson to not follow in his dad's footsteps.

As a step-parent you have to treat them just like your own child, otherwise you may as well not bother and forget the whole thing. So the acid test of whether or not you should get involved is if it were your own child would you say something. And myself...the answer would be hell yes.

All OP wants to do is give her stepdaughter some unbiased facts and let her make her own mind up. Rather than the ignorance and the politics of hate that often go hand in hand with "They've come to steal our jobs!"

It's a stupid illogical argument. Immigrants come to steal your job. What? So firstly you have a god given right to a job? No you don't. Secondly immigrants are here to steal your precious benefits.

Huh? Say what?

Which is it? Are they here to steal your jobs or benefits? Cos they can't be doing both!

"As a step-parent you have to treat them just like your own child, otherwise you may as well not bother and forget the whole thing."

Treat them as well as your own child yes, but interfere in attitudes (politcs/religon/morality) that their parents wish to inculcate? Definitely not! This is especially true when the biological parents are alive and you are not acting 'in loco parnetis' but rather as a 'good friend' to the child, the boundaries should be respected and tongues bitten however difficult this may be at times.

You are looking at it only from a step parents view point and not seeing it from the viewpoint of the biological parent.

Try imagining how you would feel if a step parent to YOUR biological child was going against something political/religious/moral viewpoint you felt strongly about. Get away from immigration, it could be anything, attitudes to female equality, attitudes to drink, drugs, religion.

Step parents should mind their own business and leave these politically charged questions to the biological parents! Anything else is only going to cause family discord.

An eleven year old is too young to 'make her own mind up' and is inevitably heavilly influenced by others, and on the subject in question there is no such position as 'impartiality' (the OP clearly has strong views herself or she wouldnt have such a strong desire to influence her SD). Why is she even raising this here rather than with the girls father anyway? If he shares the OPs views on this matter then he, not her, should take the decision if he wants to deal with it by putting an alternative view to his daughter. If he doesnt then she should butt out too.