Even Teachers Show Dislike For Cal Teens

Editor’s note: The author of this opinion column asked to be anonymous out of fear of further harassment from classmates. She is a 16-year-old Idaho resident.

After living in California all my life, my family moved to a town in Northwest Idaho one year ago. Since then, the majority of students at my new high school have shunned me simply because I am from California.

These students would not have come up with this attitude on their own, however. Their parents and teachers contribute to their negative behavior toward all Californians.

Idahoans are under the impression that all people from California are inherently bad - that they’re coming to Idaho in mass numbers with the sole intention of ruining the Idaho economy and generally dirtying up their state.

This is far from the truth. In relation to the number of people who live in California, the people who move to Idaho are insignificant. While people moving in from California, and other states, may cause the price of housing to increase, it also brings in badly needed money to rejuvenate the Idaho economy.

Towns like Kellogg and Wallace badly need economic growth. “Dante’s Peak,” the movie recently filmed in Wallace and Enaville, poured millions of California dollars into these economically depressed towns. These dollars covered everything from painting the store fronts in Wallace to items purchased from local merchants. It all added up to huge profits for Idaho.

When Californians move into a neighborhood, and their children begin attending the local school, the Idahoans they meet do not stop to find out if the new people are nice. As soon as Idaho adults find out the new neighbors are from California, they assume an attitude of hatred toward them.

This attitude, in turn, gets passed on to their children, presumably during dinner conversations about those evil Californians. Kids take this attitude with them to school, where they decide to punish their California classmates.

The propaganda doesn’t stop with parents and their children, though. During lectures at school, many of my high school teachers casually condemn Californians, not realizing they’re unconsciously giving approval to the bad treatment of California students.

This unfair treatment and blatant prejudice should not be allowed to continue. It’s a fact that some California transplants have dropped out of high school because of the persecution they endured from other students.

The truly sad part about this it that school administrators are supposed to try to keep kids in school. Instead, some encourage and participate in California-bashing behavior, which makes every weekday a living hell for the California students who are simply seeking an education - just like their Idaho counterparts.