Commentary
In February this year, the newsletter The Peanut Gallery stated: “In March of 2022, Yana, a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl, and her mother fled to escape Russia’s invasion and went to San Francisco, where Yana’s aunt lived. This January [2023], Yana began attending eighth-grade classes at Marina Middle School despite speaking little English. While she’d seen idealized versions of U.S. schools in movies, she wasn’t prepared for what she would experience in real life.
“Within her first two days at school, she saw classroom behavior that she never would have dreamed of. Students interrupted lessons, jumped on desks, and cursed at teachers. ‘After one week,’ she recalls, ‘I understood that was normal.’ Soon, she became the target of bullying. Her phone was stolen, and when she confronted the thieves, they began ‘yelling and cursing and moving toward her.’ Luckily, a counselor intervened, but the damage was done—Yana hasn’t returned to school since, and her family has requested a transfer. Yana, understandably, just wants to go back home to Ukraine and the life she knew.”…