Roma Boy Research Articles

CHILDREN SOMATOTYPE STUDY OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS FROM PLOVDIV REGION, BULGARIA

The purpose of the present study was to determine and compare the children's somatotypes of three ethnic groups living in the Plovdiv region, Bulgaria. Material and Methods: A cohort of 194 children were enrolled in the study. They were divided into four groups by sex and age. Each group were divided by ethnicity into three subgroups: Bulgarian, Turkish and Roma origins. The regression equations introduced by Heath and Carter were used to determine the somatotype components. Results: The somatotype of Bulgarian and Roma boys aged 11-12 years was defined as mesomorph-endomorph, while the somatotype of Turkish boys was determined as central. The somatotype of boys aged 13-14 years was defined as follows: Bulgarian boys- balanced endomorph, Turkish boys- endomorph-ectomorph and Roma boys with central somatotype. The mean somatotype of Bulgarian girls aged 11-12 years was defined as ectomorphic an endomorph, while the somatotype of both Turkish and Roma girls was defined a mesomorphic endomorph. Similar results were found analyzing the mean somatotype of girls aged 13-14 years. Conclusion: The period of puberty has a very important impact on the development of the human body. The mean somatotype of Bulgarian boys aged 11-12 years has changed from mesomorph-endomorph to balanced endomorph. The mean somatotype of Turkish boys aged 11-12 has changed from central to endomorph-ectomorph. The mean somatotype of Roma boys aged 11-12 has changed from mesomorph-endomorph to central. The mean somatotype of Bulgarian girls was ectomorphic endomorphic; for Turkish and Roma girls it was mesomorphic endomorphic for both age group.

Segregated schools are not inclusive: the negative effects of segregation on the quality of teaching and learning in a primary school

ABSTRACT Segregated schools have not been sufficiently explored and reflected upon. The appearance and facilities of these schools have not yet been mapped in detail, nor how they operate day by day. This article attempts to help fill this knowledge gap through the example of a segregated school in eastern Slovakia attended exclusively by Roma pupils. The research concerns to a 13-year-old Roma boy who attends first grade with 7-year-old classmates and who had moved with his family from England to Slovakia. The article is based on qualitative research and the ethnographic observation method, supplemented by interviews with teachers and fieldworkers from an NGO. The research results show how this segregated school had a negative effect on the future of the children who were attending. The poor condition and lack of material equipment have a very significant impact on the quality of teaching and learning.

Fremdheitskonstruktionen in Karin Gündischs Roman COSMIN. Von einem, der auszog, das Leben zu lernen

Abstract Cosmin, a twelve-year-old Roma boy from Transylvania, only goes to school for a short while. For his mother, it is more important, that he, the only male of a household with many mouths to feed, help her with work. But Cosmin’s teacher does not give up and proposes a bargain: If Cosmin’s mother lets her children go to school, she will get electricity from the school to be able to watch TV. Due to this arrangement, Cosmin returns to school for a few days, becomes a little thief and embarks on a journey that can become an opportunity for him. A kind of a bildungsroman, a coming of age novel focused on the ups and downs between two worlds on Romanian soil, that could not be more different from one another: the Romanian majority and the Roma minority. This article sets out to document life at the brink of society, with all of its facets.

EATING HABITS AND BEHAVIOR IN ADOLESCENTS FROM DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF PLOVDIV, BULGARIA

Purpose: The present study aims to analyze eating habits and behavior in adolescents from different ethnic groups in the Municipality of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with three different ethnic groups (Bulgarian, Turks, and Roma) in Plovdiv Region in Bulgaria. The study was conducted with a total of 185 middle or high school students. For the purposes of the study original semi-structured questionnaire was developed. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Statistics v. 26 software (IBM Corp. Released 2019. Armonk, USA). Results: More than half of the respondents eat breakfast in the morning, 107 (57.8%) sometimes eat breakfast, 52 (28.1%), and 26 (14.1%) never eat breakfast. Around 93% (50.3%) of children consume pasta daily, with the highest daily consumption among children of Turkish and Roma origin 21 (40.39%) Bulgarian boys and 14 (31.82%) Bulgarian girls consume pasta among Bulgarian children. More than half of the respondents, 105 (56.8%), consume fruits and vegetables daily. This trend persists among ethnic groups, but we have to note the fact that Roma boys at the age of 13 consume the least fresh fruits and vegetables compared to children from other ethnic groups. Conclusions: More than half of the adolescents surveyed eat breakfast in the morning; Pasta products are consumed daily by half of the respondents, with the highest daily consumption among children of Turkish and Roma origin; Fruits and vegetables are consumed daily by more than half of the respondents.

Social and ethnic group membership among students in a Czech lower secondary school

This article examines social and ethnic group membership among sixth-grade students at a Czech lower secondary school whose student population is predominantly heterogeneous in terms of ethnicity. The main focus is on group membership in the sixth grade, which is considered as the worst class at school and which is attended by several Roma boys and girls. Special attention is paid to the boundary constructions in the groups of children from an anthropological perspective and interactionism. The article is based on qualitative, and ethnographic fieldwork. The central method of the fieldwork was observation. This method was partially supplemented by materials from the school evaluations and interviews with teachers and other respondents during the field research. Research findings derive from fieldwork conducted at the school that is perceived as problematic by local residents. The school is located near a socially excluded locality in the Czech Republic where a large number of the buildings are in deplorable condition, with many apartments unoccupied. Many city residents consider the locality to be a “Roma ghetto”. The article contributes to understanding the grouping and social and interethnic communication among twelve-year-old students. The article sheds light on the benefits of being in a group and how students and groups communicate with each other.

Socioeconomic status, health related behaviour, and self-rated health of children living in Roma settlements in Hungary.

The poor health of Roma is well documented, but there is only limited data regarding the health of Roma children. The aim of this study was to describe the socioeconomic status, health related behaviour, and health of children living in segregated Roma settlements, and to compare the data with that of non-Roma children. In March-April of 2011, a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey among 11-year-old (211 boys and 252 girls) and 13-year-old (205 boys and 247 girls) children living in Roma settlements was performed (response rate: 91.5%). These data were compared with data from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey carried out in 2009/2010. The parents of Roma children were substantially less educated and less likely to be actively employed, and Roma children reported lower material welfare than non-Roma ones. The prevalence of consuming sweets and soft drinks at least 5 times per week was 1.5-2 times higher among Roma children. The prevalence of regular intense physical activity was higher at the age of 13 years among Roma boys, while physical inactivity was substantially higher in both age groups among Roma girls. Almost one quarter of Roma children and approximately 14% of non-Roma children had tried smoking at the age of 11. More Roma boys tried alcohol at the age of 11 than non-Roma ones. One in ten Roma children was obese in both age groups. The self-rated health status of Roma children was worse than that of non-Roma children. Children living in Roma settlements reported poorer socioeconomic conditions, higher consumption of sweets and soft drinks, earlier smoking and alcohol initiation, and worse self-rated health, but with some exceptions do not differ in fruit or vegetable consumption and BMI from general child population. To promote health of children living in Roma settlements, a multi-sector approach, special health education, plus social and health promotion programmes are needed.

Physical Activity as a Chance for Roma Children Living in Unfavorable Conditions // Fizička aktivnost kao šansa za romsku decu u nepovoljnim životnim uslovima

Until now no larger child sample of exclusively Roma ethnicity has been investigated concerning their basic somatic and motor performance attributes. The aim of the present comparison of Roma and non-Roma prepubertal and pubertal boys was to analyse if there were differences in some anthropometric measures and running performance to see if Roma children fall behind their non-Roma peers in growth and development, and if so, to what extent. Kinanthropometric data collection was carried out in 184 volunteer Roma boys aged 6.51 and 14.50 years. For a control group, exactly the same number of non-Roma subjects was selected randomly from each age group of the same region - Kanjiza and Novi Knezevac.

Stimulation Programme for Development of Cognitive Functions of Pupils From Marginalized Romany Communities in Slovakia

Subject of the study is the issue of effectiveness improvement within the education of socially disadvantaged pupils originating from marginalized Romany communities in younger school age in Slovakia through the stimulation of deficit cognitive functions, in the process of development of their communicative and reading competence. Main objective of the paper is presentation of stimulation programme proposal for development of cognitive functions (sorting, sequential auditory memory, short-term visual memory, addition of sequential patterns, perspective taking, and verbal planning) based on the methodology of dynamic testing of cognitive functions according to diagnostic measure ACFS (Application of Cognitive Functions Scale, Czech version, Lidz, Jepsen, Krejčová, 2014), for work with the adaption of Romany literary text (folk-tale) Children of the Sun from D. Hivešová-Šilanová. Children protagonist from socially disadvantaged backgrounds – Roma boy Lavutaris very sensitively perceives social differences in the intentions of own, minority society, as well as in their co-existence with the major society, and thus the implementation of cognitive stimulation programme takes on significance not only in the process of communicative and reading competence of socially disadvantaged pupils in younger school age, but within the multicultural and emotional education of all the pupils in terms of school inclusion in Slovakia as well.

The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke

Reviewed by: The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor Locke, Katherine The Girl with the Red Balloon. Whitman, 2017 [288p] (Balloonmakers) Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-8075-2933-1 $16.99 Paper ed. ISBN 978-0-8075-2937-9 $9.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-10 Despite the objections of her German-born Jewish grandfather, sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum joins her class on their trip to Germany. While they’re visiting the Berlin Wall Memorial, a red balloon randomly floats by, and when Ellie impulsively grabs it, she suddenly finds herself transported to the dark streets of 1988 East Germany. Fortunately for her, Kai, a Roma boy who’s member of an underground resistance group, finds her before the Volkspolizei do. Kai’s a Runner, sending desperate people over the Wall on the strings of balloons enchanted by the Schöpfers to make their passengers invisible—the balloons, though, have only ever transported people from place to place, not through time. Until Kai’s colleagues figure out what happened with Ellie’s balloon, Ellie is stuck in 1988, but as she becomes closer to Kai and [End Page 122] his cause, she’s not entirely sure she wants to go home. Narration alternates among Ellie, Kai, and a boy named Benno in a World War II concentration camp, who is eventually revealed to be Ellie’s grandfather. The shared storytelling gives both historical context and emotional resonance, clearly conveying the idea that our present is built on the ghosts of past events and people. This is most palpably explored when the Schöpfers do indeed find a way to make a balloon that goes through time and are then faced with the decision to change history, leading to potential chaos, and or leave it as it is, choosing a set of events that while tragic are at least known. These are serious, heavy themes, and the heartbreaking ending is no less thought provoking; hand this to readers looking for the personal dramas behind the facts in their history book. Copyright © 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Segregation, An Alarming Problem that Roma Face in the Education System

The arrival of the transition period in Albania in 1991 led to a promptly decline in the educational levels which by itself brought a decrease in school attendance and an increase in dropout rates. These patterns are manifested more among the Roma people who face more problems in attending school. The national illiteracy rate found by INSTAT 1 was not more than 2 percent for the Albanian population, but it is as much as 63 percent for Roma girls and 60 percent for Roma boys. It is assumed that it has increased significantly since 19912. It is the equal access to education one of the core problems which the Roma communities in Albania are facing, and it is this deficiency which is also directly related with other problems such as employment and political participation. I believe that in designing new policies and long term solutions for the melioration of the educational situation for Roma community in Albania, it is very important to have a diagnostic situation of the situation of Roma access and equity in education. Hence, the rationale behind this paper is to explore the situation, reasons and respective perspectives for the Roma minority regarding their access and equity in education. The methodology used in this research includes primary and secondary data. The primary data were obtained through semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted with one Representative of the Albanian Ministry of Education and Sports and interviews with two teachers of the elementary school “Bajram Curri” Tirana/Albania. Secondary data were obtained for a qualitative character from a range of sources such as reports, documents and studies on the education of Roma in Albania and Central and Eastern Europe. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1385

Motor performance of Roma pupils in the first grade of primary schools in Slovakia

AbstractThe aim of research was to Roma pupils in the first grade of primary schools ascertain the essential characteristics somatometric and their level of physical performance. The research was done at the end of the school year 2013/2014. The sample included from 188 students aged 7th to 10th years in primary schools in the districts of Rimavská Sobota and Rožňava. Physically we investigated the performance test battery EUROFIT. Our research group was compared with a nationwide non-Roma pupils by Moravec et al. [11]. Test battery EUROFIT: flamingo balance test, plate tapping, hand dynamometer, sit-ups 30 s, standing broad jump, bent arm hang, shuttle run 10 × 5 meters, shuttle endurance run. When comparing the performance of our group of Roma boys and girls aged 7-10 years to the general population by Moravec et al. [11], we found out that Roma pupils were significantly worse.

Roma girls: between traditional values and educational aspirations

The paper presents findings from a survey of 720 respondents: 240 Roma parents, 240 Roma boys and 240 Roma girls between 12 and 25 years of age. The subjects were from various regions of Bulgaria and were members of different ethnic groups. The main goal of the survey was to study the current attitudes that Roma communities hold regarding an existing Roma tradition – the practice of keeping a girl out of school in order to preserve her virginity. The respondents gave varied responses; however, the majority of the parents surveyed declared that they would allow their daughters to go to school despite the Roma tradition of keeping them at home to preserve their ‘cleanness’ (i.e. virginity).

Imported Wild Poliovirus Causing Poliomyelitis—Bulgaria, 2001

In March 2001, a 13-month-old unvaccinated Roma (i.e., gypsy) girl from Bourgas, Bulgaria, had onset of bilateral leg weakness. The National Enterovirus Laboratory in the capital city of Sofia subsequently isolated a wild type 1 poliovirus in the patient's stool. In April, a second case, with wild type 1 poliovirus isolate was found in lambol located approximately 50 mileswest of Bourgas in an unvaccinated 26-month-old Roma girl who had onset of paralysis of both legs. Subsequent analyses indicated that these viruses were related closely to a strain isolated from Uttar Pradesh, India, in July 2000. A third confirmed case with clinical and serologic evidence of poliomyelitis was diagnosed in a 3-month-old Roma boy in Bourgas who had onset of paralysis on May 7. Following the identification of the poliovirus, the Bulgarian Ministry of Health implemented contact investigations, screening of children at high risk, retrospective record review, intensified acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance, and mass vaccinations. This report summarizes the outbreak investigation and supplemental vaccination activities in response to these polio cases. High routine vaccination coverage and certification standard AFP surveillance are necessary to detect rapidly and prevent the spread of poliovirus importations in areas and countries where polio is not endemic.