When Children Are Water: Representation of Central American Migrant Children in Public Discourse and Implications for Educators. Issue 2 (3rd April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Catalano, Theresa
• Is Part Of: Journal of Latinos and education. Volume 16:Issue 2(2017)
• Page Start: 124
• Page End: 142
• Publication Date: 2017-04-03
• Subjects: Central American migrant children -- metaphor -- metonymy -- education -- media discourse; Hispanic Americans -- Education -- Periodicals; Hispanic Americans -- Ethnic identity -- Periodicals; Latin Americans -- Education -- Periodicals; Latin Americans -- Ethnic identity -- Periodicals; 371.82968073
• DOI: 10.1080/15348431.2016.1205988
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1534-8431

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Since June, 2014 when the U.S. government began to document an increase in unaccompanied/separated children arriving in the United States from Central America, these children have become a frequent topic in media discourse. Because rhetoric about immigration issues have been shown to affect schooling of these children, the present article aims to examine how these children are represented in the discourse of one community. Findings from this critical multimodal discourse analysis reveal multiple strategies of representation that result in the dominant metaphor of IMMIGRANT CHILDREN ARE DANGEROUS WATER and negative perceptions that have implications for the education of these students.