Inland Valley Our Times
Children offer views on Elian splightU·ttleElian Gonzalez is
back in the news again,ith renewed efforts to
return him to Cuba and hisfather and reinvigorated resis-tance to that plan. Since the 6-year-old boy was rescued onThanksgiving Day off thecoast of Florida, his fate hasbeen a focus of internationalattention and dispute.Fishermen found Elian cling-ing to an imler tube after hismother and 10 others diedwhen their boat capsized enroute to the United States.
Elian's father and FidelCastro want him returned. So dosome people in this country,induding Atty.Gen. Janet Renoand the Immigration andNaturalization Service. ButElian's American relatives -and some members of Congress- would like him to stay hereand are fighting for his citizen-ship and political asylumthrough the U.S. courts.
We've heard a lot of peo-ple's opinions on the matter,but not much from the per-spective of children. Are manyof them aware of Elian'splight? Do they care? Children,after all, are often caught inthe middle of disputes, withadults making decisions inwhich they have little say.
I asked a sampling of area
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youngsters for their views.Most had heard about Elian.While some didn't have strongfeelings about the situationeither way, several did, includ-ing Jesus Gonzalez, 11, ofPomona.
"I think he should go backto Cuba," he said. Jesus is astudent in Robert Lamascus'class at Sumner ElementarySchool in Claremont. Helearned about Elian's situationfrom the newspaper and hadbeen involved in lively class-room discussions of currentevents.
"His dad has the right toget the little boy because he'shis clad, and his aunts anduncles are just his aunts and
uncles," Jesus said. "His dad isthe one who brought him intothe world; he should have theright to get him back to Cuba.Also, the people who aredeciding to let him go, theyshould listen to the little boy -his opinion."
But Jesus said a boy in hisclass who was from Cuba feltthat Elian should stay inFlorida because "it was hismom's dream to come toAmerica." Most of his class-mates took that position, hesaid.
Unlike Jesus, most of thefifth- and sixth-graders atPepper Tree ElementarySchool in Upland had not dis-cussed Elian's destiny in class,but many had clear opinionsabout the issue anyway.
"I think they should let himgo back to his father," saidChad Vandersluis, 10,"because he's a little kid andhe probably wants to see hisdad."
Steve Laforce, 11, agreed.So did Tyler Haines, 11, whotried to imagine himself inElian's shoes.
"I would go to my dad," hesaid.
Ivy Povoa, 12, thought moreabout family responsibility,saying that Elian should livewith his dad because "he's
probably the person responsi-ble for him - not his relatives,even though they are part ofthe family."
At Foothill KnollsElementary School in Upland,Steven Gonzalez, 10, had dis-cussed the issue extensively aspart of current events inRaquel Carlson's fifth-gradeclass. Steven thought Elianshould stay in the UnitedStates and said most of his
. classmates thought so, too.Upland resident Rebecca
Garrett, 10, is home schooled.She saw the story on televisionand in a newspaper. She haddiscussed Elian with her fami-ly, and she thought he shouldreturn to Cuba if he wants to.
"They should ask him," shesaid.
Alexa Singleton, 11, a sixth-grader at Lyle S. Briggs Schoolin Chino, agreed that Elianshould have some say in thedecision. After hearing thestory on the news, she askedher mom to fill in the details.
"It's his life after all," shesaid. "Instead of them fightingover him, deciding where he'sgoing to stay, have himdecide."
• VERONICA JAMES is a columnistwriting about family issues for InlandValley Our Times. She can be reachedat [email protected].
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