Irish Teen Punished After Refusing To Have Her Culture Exploited In American High School

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Mayarey
Feb 17, 2022 11:30 AM EST

Moving from one school to another one is always a huge step. It's never fun to be the new kid. What's even harder is moving from one school to another one in a completely different country. Now, not only are you the new kid, but you're the new kid with a new accent and a new culture that you suddenly have to become the representative for.

Americans and foreigners have an interesting relationship. Firstly, a lot of Americans consider everyone to be a foreigner, even when they are living in their own country. Sometimes it can be difficult to move past stereotypes when trying to learn about someone else's background. It is a good thing to celebrate other people's cultures, and ask them questions with an open mind, but we need to understand that sometimes people just don't want to share.

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  • 01
    Font - AITA because I don't want to share my Irish culture with my American classmates? My (16F) family and I recently moved from Dublin, Ireland, to a small town in the South of the United States, a real "Bible Belt" town where it seems they don't get a lot of "foreigners" like myself and my family.
    via u/aoifecassidydublin

    Reddit user u/aoifecassidydublin recently moved from Dublin, Ireland to a southern US state. She expressed that she has not had an easy time adjusting to the new school, or rather, her new classmates have not been able to make her feel as though she belongs.

  • 02
    Font - I recently joined the local high school as a Sophomore, or 10th grade. It's been a bit of a learning experience and I'm trying to navigate the difference between here and home. To be honest, it was not my idea to move to America but my parents both have jobs that gave them better opportunities than Dublin was offering and they decided to move out here.
    via u/aoifecassidydublin

    Her new teacher wants her to do a presentation on Ireland but she has no interest in doing so after other students have continuously made fun of her nationality. Now she is asking if she is 'the a-hole,' because she doesn't want to put on a show for her class.

  • 03
    Font - My classmates keep making this big to-do about my [freaking] accent, asking me stupid [stuff] like "have you ever seen a lepurchan?" "do you all live in little stone cottages and wear buckle shoes", things like that, stereotypes of life in Ireland.
    via u/aoifecassidydublin
  • 04
    Font - Quite a few have asked me to quote the Lucky Charms bastard or that character from Austin Powers. It doesn't help that I look like an Irish stereotype; I've got red hair and pale skin and freckles and a thick accent. It's all so annoying.
    via u/aoifecassidydublin
  • 05
    Font - I don't like it here and I miss Ireland, miss my family, my nan and my cousins and all my friends. I had so many friends and now we're living in America we're all finding it hard to continue being friends because Ireland is hours ahead of where we live and its hard to maintain friend- ships over Insta and Facebook and alI.
    via u/aoifecassidydublin
  • 06
    Font - The school I'm attending has started having the physical classroom. One of my history classes this year has a focus on other cultures than just American, so we study different countries. My teacher didn't wait long to ask me to share about life "on the far away land of Ireland".
    via u/aoifecassidydublin
  • 07
    Font - Thing is, I don't want to be some [freaking] show pony for these people. My culture, my country, is not some display to be touted out like this. We're real people, we have real lives, we're not stuck in the 1700s farming sheep and shit, we have cities and internet and health care, we're a fully evolved society. It isn't my job to teach her class.
    via u/aoifecassidydublin
  • 08
    Font - Of course, I'm now seen as some kind of anti-social bully because I told the teacher plainly that I would not agree to her request. Now the school wants to have a sit-down with my parents and me because they "have concerns" about my well-being.
    via u/aoifecassidydublin
  • 09
    Rectangle - We have a student who moved here three years ago from Mexico but she didn't ask him to participate.
    via u/aoifecassidydublin
  • 10
    Font - Am I really such a [jerk] because I don't want to be used as some kind of performance monkey because I'm from a different country?
    via u/aoifecassidydublin
  • 11

    The teen got an overwhelmingly positive response from fellow Redditors

    Rectangle - LOOT_FREAK 2.6k points 28 days ago You should just do a presentation on how good free healthcare is.
    via u/LOOT_FREAK
  • 12
    Font - Affectionate_Bug_947 1.6k points 28 days ago NTA but if you want to mess with them a little: This is where you go r/maliciouscompliance and lean into the things that are EXACTLY THE SAME. 'In ireland we have this place where we get fries called McDonalds' In ireland we use these vehi- cles called cars for transport' All of those are part of a culture too imo and it will avoid you having to be a 'showpony' while complying with your teacher's request and showing your classmates you're not s
    via u/Affectionate_Bug_947
  • 13
    Font - newenglandredshirt 1.0k points 28 days ago NTA. American teacher here. I am SO sorry that this has been your experience. During the sit-down, I recommend you tell the teacher/ administrator exactly what you put here... that others have been unkind because of your heritage. And then apologize for being rude to the teacher. (Bear with me) Tell her that when she asked you to participate, all that other stuff was going through your head, and you want to be seen by your classmates as more than
    via u/newenglandredshirt
  • 14
    Rectangle - MathematicianLow3558 187 points 28 days ago NTA, I am so sorry that this is happening to you. I think you should talk to your parents before the sit down and let them know how you feel so they can support you when you talk to the school about how the teacher has made you feel.
    via u/MathematicianLow3558

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aita school drama annoying teenagers irish teacher Reddit bullying
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