User:Joel Petersen/sandbox

In earlier studies, migration is shown to be a risk factor in child development. On the contrary, many immigrant adolescents perform equally or even better than national adolescents, specifically in school. Reports have shown that immigrant adolescents earn better grades in school than their national contemporaries, despite their lower socio-economic status. However, as immigrant youth assimilate into U.S. culture, their developmental and education outcomes become less optimal. This phenomenon is known as the Immigrant Paradox. There are a couple explanations for this phenomenon, first of all being the the free public education system of the United States. For Latino immigrants, free access to education is a major factor in deciding to immigrate to the U.S. and once they arrive, they stress upon their children the importance to succeed academically in order to make their lives better. Another factor increasing the the initial educational success of immigrants is the fact that many of them are bilingual. Native bilingualism allows immigrants a distinct advantage in the completion of composite tasks.