Chapter 4: Islamic Republic of Iran/Persia

Navid has recently immigrated to the U.S. from Iran through the U.S. govern-ment’s Diversity Visa program. He has a four-year-old daughter, Maryam, who is very verbal when it comes to Persian, speaking in her sweet, playful way. There is a problem, though. When in Iran, she was very sociable, always willing to make new friends and participate in the games played by children her age, both in the daycare center and at family social events; however, she has changed—Maryam is not a happy, lively little girl anymore. Instead of playing with the kids in the neighborhood, her parents say that she mostly plays games on her tablet computer and uses social media applications to connect to her family and friends back home. Her parents have recently put Maryam in a daycare center, hoping that it will help their daughter recover from her isolation and, in addition to learning English, be the happy girl she once was.