Youth propose their own solutions

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More than 200 youth from all across the province attended the last of seven youth forums in Alberta that was hosted by Children?s Services. Few adults attended the "Your Choice, Your Voice" conference held at the Shaw Conference Centre on Nov. 30.

"The young people ran the show. Teens led the working groups and teens developed the action plans," said Tracy Balash, communications officer with Children's Services.

"Even the organizers were young people. Adults were not allowed into the forums while the discussions were being held. The idea was for the youth to develop their own solutions."

Minister of Children's Services Iris Evans stated that substance abuse among the youth was not just an Aboriginal issue.

"Substance abuse whether Aboriginal or other is still very, very prevalent for a lot of youth," said Evans. "We have actually gone into Grade 6 classrooms where more than 80 per cent of the children will tell me that they've poured drinks for their parents.

What kind of a message is that? We have to start to look at ourselves as adults so that we protect young people from substance abuse."

Workshops offered included ones on sexual health, violence, racism, suicide prevention, building a future, women's role in Aboriginal society and promoting cultural awareness.

Twenty young women showed their enthusiasm while suggesting and commenting on the issue of the role of women in Aboriginal society, as facilitator Joanne Daniels recorded their answers on a chart.

They said Aboriginal women's voices need to be heard. They also said they need to be proud to be Aboriginal women.

Their discussion highlighted the consequences of neglecting their heritage and culture.

"We have an obligation as women to be healthy and to show our children how to take care of themselves. We have to show our children how to share, how to be honest and how to be respectful. We should be showing our children their worth by healing ourselves as women and as worthwhile human beings" said Daniels.

"Europeans made us believe we were to be subservient . . . . It was not this way for Aboriginal women. We were partners and teachers alongside our men. Men did not tell us what to do. We were taught by other women how to do things. We need to reclaim our roles as women in order for the community to be strong," she said.

In the workshop Promoting Cultural Awareness, a mixed group of young men and women sat on the floor as facilitators Adrian LaChance and Shannon Awasis spoke of the importance of Aboriginal culture.

"We have to show the youth how to have a positive attitude about themselves, to be proud of who they are as Aboriginal," said LaChance. "It means to share the culture with others, what we know, to understand the true meaning of respect and kindness so the youth have a sense of confidence in their communities to be leaders and not followers of drug or alcohol users."

Action plans from all of the forums will be posted on the Support Network's web site at www.youthone.com. The Support Network is Edmonton's distress and information centre, which is funded by the Edmonton Community Foundation, Health Canada, the Muttart Foundation and the United Way.

"Elders need to speak to us more. They have a lot of knowledge to share with us; knowledge that we can use in the future," said the Blood reserve's Joshua Goodstriker, 17. "At this forum I learned about other Aboriginal cultures, how they do their ceremonies and things. It was interesting. Some of the Aboriginal ceremonies around Edmonton are different than ours," he said.