Aboriginal Teens More Troubled than General Population Teens

According to a new nationwide study conducted by Alberta’s University of Lethbridge, Aboriginal teens are more troubled than the average teenager and feel more conflicted about Canada.

According to the Project Teen Canada Survey, Native teenagers interpret a number of issues as “very serious” problems in comparison to non-Native teenagers.

Among the study’s findings, nearly 70% of Native teenagers on reserves believe that child abuse, teenage suicide and violence against women are serious issues in comparison to nearly 50% of non-Native kids.

The study also showed that Aboriginal teens living off reserve are more likely to have friends who have experienced greater social problems such as drugs, depression, physical abuse and gang violence.

There were also higher instances of poverty, boredom and depression amongst Aboriginal teenagers and there were higher rates of sexually active Native teens in the survey. Forty-five percent of Native teenager reported having sex once a month in comparison to 32% of the non-Native teenagers surveyed.

At the same time, there were significantly lower numbers of Aboriginal teens, 45% of on-reserve teenagers and 55% of off-reserve teens, who said if given the choice they would live elsewhere than Canada in comparison to 54% of non-Aboriginals.

According to the Montreal Gazette, the study’s lead author Reginald Bibby stated what these results mean is “that in many instances, it’s just going to be very, very difficult for Aboriginal kids to realize the dreams and aspirations that they have.”