Study reveals teens need consistent positive messaging in multicultural environments

California:  Teenagers suffer academically in multicultural environments if they do not get consistent and positive signals about cultures other than their own at school, home, and among their peers, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.

In a survey of more than 700 teens at public schools in the Southwestern United States, researchers found that while these students attended ethnically diverse schools and reported learning about multiple cultures in school, they didn’t always get the same messages from friends and their families.

This affected their academic engagement, such as participation and interest in school, and their goals for higher education.

“It can be emotionally taxing to adolescents to receive different messages, and it can affect their academic achievement,” said Maciel M. Hernández, assistant professor of human ecology and lead author of the study. “Youth need to successfully interact with and be socially connected to people from diverse backgrounds … it’s important to be full partakers in this fabric of society and appreciate cultural traditions that are not their own.”