Federation releases city teen sexuality report

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The Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC) in Toronto released a report on May 22 titled Tenuous Connections, a study of urban Aboriginal teen sexuality. The study looks at reasons so many urban Native youth, some as young as 11, are sexually active, and what can be done about teenage pregnancy rates that far surpass the national average.

"Our numbers are startling when compared to mainstream. We found that more than 25 per cent of our families are started by the time our young people are 15 and 16 years old. That's incredible, just that number alone," stated Sylvia Maracle, executive director of OFIFC and co-writer of the report.

"If you look back in our history there were a number of interventions whereby our children were forcibly removed from our homes; they were sent to residential schools where they learned some practices there that were inappropriate in terms of sex. They couldn't talk about this, it was made secret as opposed to sacred. I think as a consequence of these events they lost contact with the positive role models and positive processes that we had in our communities at one time. We see their behaviors today as a long part of that spiral," continued Maracle.

The mandate for this study was urban communities only. However, Maracle feels that her colleagues and friends from rural and isolated communities will find equally as startling a picture.

This study looked at "early pregnancies" and allowed the young people interviewed to speak in their own words.

"They talk about not having other options in their communities; they talk about not having alternatives. They talk about significant use of alcohol and drugs as a major factor. And they talk about not using contraceptives and not preparing themselves. As a consequence of that, we're talking about more than 25 per cent of the youth who we engaged in this study had been pregnant before the age of 19. Those same young people told us that they felt that the ideal time to start their families was at 25 and 27 and yet they had started their families at 17 or younger.

"However, the young people themselves in the study were very clear that if we engaged them in discussions and conversations and work at community alternatives and intervention that spiral can be broken," stated Maracle.

Some of the young people questioned for the report stated that some teenagers have babies to fight loneliness and so that they will have someone who will love them. This tragic reality needs to be addressed, partly through education. The report says that more programs are needed to educate Native youth about sex, pregnancy and parenting. Maracle said that Elders need to get involved in helping youth find their way as Aborginal people.

"Our young people have been moved very, very far from the centre of our cultural teachings. I think that there are a lot of ways that you can learn the negative behavior; now we need to learn the positive behavior."

The report also warns that the consequences of doing nothing about the findings of this study are severe. It says that if Native people are having babies at age 15 and nothing is done to change the status quo, their children will likely have children when they become teenagers.

"We are making recommendations that are reasonable and sensitive," Maracle said. "We expect that there should be health promotion strategies that can address these issues. We should be addressing sexual health for everybody, not just for Aboriginal people. By the time we start to fumble our way through a public education system in high school we are too late to give these kids any real information to help them make informed choices. So we certainly need to look at some sort of strategy, we need to look at community education processes, we need to engage all levels of government to look at what can be replaced in these young people's lives, or what can be done to enhance their lives.

"Certainly in northern communities, in Sudbury, Noth Bay, Timmins, Moosonee and other places in the northeast we don't have community alternatives anymore, we don't even have recreation centres in these cities for them to go to. Therefore, it is no wonder that they will find each other in terms of entertainment."

A 15-year-old in the study states: "They closed the pool hall, we have nothing to do, so we do each other."

Maracle concluded, "That certainly seems to be part of it, but part of it is quite a legitimate expression to heal. Of wanting to love, to be loved, to find importance and credence in who they are.

"We are interested in making sure that urban Aboriginal young people have information, that they can make informed decisions, and that if they choose to be a parent early that we can provide support for them so that they can do that. It is not about a value issue or an economic issue in some respects. But it is about improving our health, our opportunities, and our well-being, and making sure that young people feel needed and that they have a place in our society."