In Search of Peace and Safety

Abstract

This chapter features Basel, a young Syrian newcomer student fleeing a war-torn country and attending a Canadian public high school. The chapter reveals the conflicting tensions between Baselʼs experiences in Syria and in Canada, as well as the challenges he faced while striving to adjust to his new life in the Canadian school system. The chapter explains how Baselʼs cross-cultural schooling experiences, combined with major difficulties at home stemming from his parents’ lack of understanding of his needs as a newcomer youth and a war survivor, initially exceeded his coping ability and left him with symptoms of depression. Basel’s story highlights the tensions newcomer students with traumatic war experiences face in overcoming past memories of war and trauma while struggling to adjust to new school demands and contexts in Canada.