I.T.C. “ALBERTO PITENTINO” MANTOVA - ITALY “CROSSING BORDERS: MIGRATION IN EUROPE” European Educational Project L.L.P. – COMENIUS 2007/2008

Presentation Our principal hasn’t allowed us to hand out the questionnaires of our survey to people outside our school; therefore we have only given them to our “senior” students (the ones in the last three years of our secondary school), to their parents and some teachers. Every student has been given two questionnaires, one for himself/herself and the other for one of his/her parents, with our principal’s presentation-letter enclosed. We have collected 227 questionnaires filled in by students and other 196 filled in by adults. Working in this way, we have perhaps obtained more truthful answers as they were given anonymously, but we didn’t have the possibility to explain the meaning of the questions, which, we believe, have been misunderstood in some cases. The foreign students working on the project have given a really important contribution because their experience has helped us to interpret the data collected.

The sample of 227 students consists of 76 boys and 151 girls ranging in the age range. The sample of 196 adults consists of 64 men and 132 women in the age range % of the adults questioned has a middle school diploma, 45% has a secondary school diploma and 7.4% has a university degree. Graph Label

Foreigners should live among themselves and not mix with Italian population Foreigners are friendly to each other, but not to other people The answers are conditioned by the way foreigners behave in most cases: adults maintain close ties with the people coming from the same home country and living here; young people at school want to make friends especially with students of the same nationality. Students:50.7% agree, 42.8% disagree Adults:43.4% agree, 49% disagree Students:60.4%, agree, 26.4% disagree Adults:61.7% agree, 32.1% disagree

Foreigners are less civilized than Italians Immigrants should adapt themselves to Italian culture Young people seem less willing to accept integration: perhaps they are conditioned by the media to follow fashions as well as standardized behaviour and attitudes, whereas foreign teenagers often dress more traditionally and are more obedient to their parents’ rules. Integration is considered as a form of adaptation to Italian customs and culture, not a complete and respectful acceptance of each other’s traditions. Students:62.2% agree, 26% disagree Adults:54.1% agree, 36.2% disagree Students:83.7% agree, 8.8% disagree Adults:87.7% agree, 8.1% disagree

It’s the foreigners’ fault that the number of unemployed people is so high Immigrants don’t have the same life opportunities as citizens as native Italians Adults aren’t so worried about unemployment because they are already in work. Students, instead, are aware that their foreign classmates will probably become their rivals in work in the future because theit are very clever and highly motivated. There is also a high percentage of young people that didn’t give any answers, which implies ignorance or indifference to the problem of unemployment. Students:53.3% agree, 30% disagree Adults:47.4% agree, 40.3% disagree Students:55.1% agree, 32.2% disagree Adults:45.9% agree, 39.8% disagree

Foreigners are responsible for the increase in crime and violence in our society The very high percentages of people that agree on the statement is probably due to the fact that an Italian woman was killed by a Romanian man a few weeks before our survey, which shocked the public opinion. Moreover, in Italy the media usually stress the foreign origin of criminals. Students:83.2% agree, 11.5% disagree Adults:87.7% agree, 10.7% disagree

We want more foreigners to immigrate to our country The high percentage of people,both students and adults, disagreeing on this statement shows the deep uneasiness that our country feels in the painful transition towards a more complex and more differentiated society. Students:2.7% agree, 87.7% disagree Adults:4.1% agree, 86.7% disagree

All the religions should be respected equally Also in this case the adults seem more open-minded than young people: 83% of adults against 75% of students. This religious tolerance seems in contradiction with the ideas previously expressed. Students:75.3% agree, 14.1% disagree Adults:82.7% agree, 9.7% disagree

Immigrants cheat welfare system and live on tax payers money A lot of people agree on this statement, more adults than students. The adults complain about a welfare system that is, in their opinion, too protective and mainly supported by tax payers. A lot of young people are uninformed and therefore don’t know what the welfare system guarantees to regular and non-regular foreigners. Students:70.9% agree, 13.7% disagree Adults:77.5% agree, 17.3% disagree

There were a few surprises when we read and analysed the results of the survey carried out with the parents and students of our school. As regards the growing number of immigrants in our country, the students have generally expressed a deeper feeling of uneasiness. This was unexpected as students live side by side with foreigners and even make friends with them. In our opinion, the data reflect the reality of a city and a province that have only recently experienced the immigration flow, which is now on the increase.In Mantua the number of foreigners in work and at school is getting significantly great. For example, foreigners make up 14% of the students in our area and this percentage places Mantua up towards the top as regards the number of foreigners. In our city, as well as in the whole Italian society, immigration is a recent but quick- developing phenomenon. Adults are now finding out that their neighbours and colleagues are foreigners. Young people are growing up and studying with immigrants or immigrants’ children but, paradoxically, they aren’t aware of the great change that is now taking place and that will lead to a future multi-ethnic society. Both adults and young people are undergoing this change with fear and anxiety.