Non-Indigenous youth face an array of challenges at the high school level. The expectations placed on them as young adults, their exposure to Indigenous culture, and their power and privilege as white people make it difficult for non-Indigenous youth to consider themselves friends with Indigenous youth. To address this challenge, non-Indigenous youth need to be more mindful of their feelings and those of others when engaging with Indigenous people. They should use this awareness to create positive change in their school communities. (Campbell et al., 2019) To promote allyship, Indigenous youth should be engaged in creating a culture where they are supported to achieve their goals and success. With the right support, non-Indigenous youth can be role models for Indigenous youth by sharing experiences and ideas with them, helping them understand what they can attain and how they can go about achieving their goals.
A growing number of Indigenous secondary school students report feeling marginalized by their peers, teachers, and school administrators in the school environment. This study investigates how non-Indigenous youth perceive challenges and inequalities experienced by Indigenous youth at the high school level. Based on this research, some key findings are as follows. (Campbell et al., 2019) The Tri-Council is committed to fostering a positive environment for all students, regardless of their identity. By fostering an accepting and inclusive culture across the school community, we aim to reduce the likelihood of intolerance and bullying. It is important to note that the council aspires to treat all people in a spirit of positive respect. It’s also necessary to observe the ethical environment of the young indigenous student at the high school level and how their counterparts treat them.
In this project, we will interview non-Indigenous high school students, focusing on their views and feelings regarding Indigenous youth. From these interviews, we hope to gain a deeper sense of how we can promote allyship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth. By interviewing their peers, we will gain a deeper and more personal insight into the thoughts and feelings of young Indigenous people. With this information, we can work together to create better relationships between Indigenous youth and non-Indigenous people and promote the idea that we are all connected in one way or another.
The methods used involve asking them questions on the topic at hand, taking notes from the interview conducted, and observation after obtaining permission from the parents; the findings obtained from the narrative analysis revealed that non-Indigenous youth generally perceived Indigenous youth to be a large group of people who have similar characteristics and experiences. This means that there is a commonality in their experiences regardless of where they may be from and how they perceive their identity. The findings also revealed that much non-Indigenous youth perceived Indigenous youth as individuals from different cultures but with similar issues around racism and discrimination. (Campbell et al., 2019) This means that the experiences are not isolated to one country or culture, but views on race or racial discrimination are global. To promote allyship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth at the high school level, educators can ensure that students understand each other’s identities, problems, and strengths while working towards creating intercultural understanding and supportive connections between students/teachers.
Overall, the results indicate that some Indigenous youth perceive the challenges and inequalities experienced by Indigenous youth at their high school level to be related to their identity. However, this was less true for non-Indigenous youth. Furthermore, there is intergenerational alignment between both groups on this topic, with similarities between young elders’ perceptions of how they were treated as students before Aboriginal education was introduced to remote communities. The data provided in this report reveals that most non-indigenous youth at the high school level believe it is more challenging for Indigenous youth to complete their high school education than non-Indigenous youth. However, 43% of the respondents believe there are no significant differences between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous youth’s interest in post-secondary education. (Sabzalian, L. 2019) Therefore, we cannot solely attribute our perceived disparities in high school completion rates to a lack of support from other students.
The keynotes noted from the whole video about colonialism 2020 by Cindy Blackstock also talk about indigenous or native Americans who receive unequal treatment, especially from the police and African Americans. It also mentions the aboriginal agencies struggling with ill-fitting rules made outside the community. This discrimination against the Indians as they still justice through genocide based on the research findings. (Sabzalian, L. 2019) To relate to what happens to our generation in schools, The Indigenous youth population is on the rise, and not all schools accommodate these young people. There may be a need to teach allyship at a younger age, as non-Indigenous students may not fully understand how their actions affect others.
In conclusion, even though obtaining in from the students was a bit challenging as there was a lot of confidentiality and positionality, given that non of us are indigenous, we were able to obtain some information acknowledging that there are differences between everyone will put less stress on each student as they try to work together towards a common goal of academic success. The challenges and inequalities experienced by marginalized youth, such as the Indigenous youth at the high school level, translate into challenges for their non-indigenous peers. (Sabzalian, L. 2019) Creating an understanding environment between students from both sides of the binary in schools
Reference
Campbell‐Daniels, R. B. S., & Anthony‐Stevens, V. Indigenous Children’s Survivance in Public Schools. Leilani Sabzalian, New York, NY: Routledge, 2019, 245 pp.
Sabzalian, L. (2019). Indigenous children’s survivance in public schools. Routledge.
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