Voices of Native Youth

Tag: Education

A Growth Mindset Might Not Be Enough for Native Youth

Posted on by Keira Sloan

Native youth struggle with becoming successful even if they have the right growth mindset. One of my friend’s cousins has struggled, even though she had goals in life. People’s negative expectations kept pulling her down. She struggled because of the lack of resources in her family and eventually she wandered down the path of alcohol and drug use.

Her story made me think of why Native youth struggle so much. We might not reach our goals because of negative expectations, environmental factors, and lack of resources.

Growth Mindset Starts With People’s Expectations

Having a growth mindset might not be enough for a Native youth to achieve his or her goals. Three other factors (ones you can help with) play a part. #pygmalioneffect #growthmindset #nativeyouth #education

People’s negative expectations hold Native youth back. Projecting negative expectations onto Native youth puts the Pygmalion Effect into action. The Pygmalion Effect is when expecting certain behaviors makes them more likely to occur. A study on the Pygmalion effect (also referred to as the Rosenthal study), took place at an elementary school where students were given intelligence pre-tests. Twenty percent of the students showed potential for growth, but a group of students were actually randomly picked and placed in a class for exceptional students. All of the students showed growth when they retook the test, showing that when we expect students to do well, they will live up to our expectations. 

The opposite can also happen. For example, when my older sister Kayla was in the fifth grade, her teacher told her, “Your sisters are better at math than you. You’ll be repeating middle school while your sisters go to high school without you.” Kayla struggled in school all because of a comment which unknowingly put the Pygmalion Effect into motion, causing her to get bad grades after she completed the fifth grade. Now that she’s at a new school, where everyone expects her to do well, she’s finally finding success. Putting your negative expectations on Native youth may not impact you negatively, but it does have a very negative impact on Native youth such as Kayla.

The Debilitating Effects of Poverty

We as Native youth are held back by our environment. According to a 2013 article on the American Psychological Association’s website, “In 2009, poor (bottom 20 percent of all family incomes) students were five times more likely to drop out of high school than high-income (top 20 percent of all family incomes) students.” An astonishing 33% of Native youth come from families living below the poverty line (compared to 14% of the general population). This means that Native students will have a harder time in school because they are suffering from the effects of poverty. 

Statistics don't lie. Native American students start school at a disadvantage. No wonder they fail to thrive. #nativeamerican Click To Tweet

The type of environment that you live in affects your ability to achieve your goals. Poverty can not only impact school success but mental health, too. The stress of poverty can put a strain on a kid’s mental health with the constant worry of having sufficient funds to do well in school. Stress of poverty can also lead Native youth to drop out because they will need to help provide for their family. Poverty can impact not only school success, but mental health, too, which can hold native youth back from achieving their goals.

Family Support is Pure Gold

Native youth don’t have the resources we need to achieve our goals. Support from family is a resource Native youth often don’t have. Support from family isn’t very common because we really aren’t expected to go to college. Some of the Native youth’s family members expect them to stay home and watch over their younger siblings and take care of the house. Even if we choose to go to college, distance and financial support will make it even more difficult. 

When I was younger my mother went to University of New Mexico (UNM), while we stayed at our grandma’s house, who was still living in Crownpoint at the time. My mom drove herself to and from the school for her classes, she also used student loans to pay for school which she is still paying off, but it was all worth it, because she is now a nurse. Native youth might not have the right resources such as support from family or financial support which could cause Native youth to struggle with achieving their goals.

We Have Dreams, Too!

Native youth feel like they aren’t able to achieve their goals because of several factors holding them back. Projecting your negative expectations onto us will make it more likely that we’ll fail. Poverty will make it more difficult for us to succeed, and it impacts our mental health. When we don’t have support from family or financial support, it makes it difficult to reach our goals despite our growth mindset. Native youth might struggle with these things, but we want to dream big and work hard so we can achieve our goals. 

Keira is a fifteen-year-old Navajo girl with two sisters. She is the middle triplet, and hates it when people think she’s exactly like her sisters. She loves being unique. Her hobbies are reading, drawing, listening to music and watching TV, which she thoroughly enjoys doing.

Why You Shouldn’t Tell a Native Youth to Stay in School

Posted on by Thalia Davis

Have you ever had someone tell you to stay in school? How did you feel? According  to a friend of mine, an adult told her to stay in school and it made her feel pressured. She had to push herself to work hard and improve her grades. When the adult told her to stay in school she felt that if she didn’t, she would be a failure.

Finishing school is great, but having the pressure put on you is too much. There are reasons why native youth don’t finish school. Some may have experienced abuse and some may have trouble keeping up with their education while caring for family members. Maybe other family members could help care for their younger siblings or grandparents then they could continue their education.

Native Youth need their education to succeed in the future. It really bothers me when middle-class white people tell me to stay in school. Especially when they don’t understand how education is on the Reservation, our personal problems, and the family responsibilities we have.

Reservation Schools

People don’t realize how hard it is to live on the Reservation and to get a good education. According to Rebecca Clarren in an article entitled “How America is Failing Native American Students says, “American Indian and Alaska Native students are more likely to be suspended then any other racial group, with the exception of African Americans.” If they are suspended they will miss out on some of their education. The longer the suspension, they more days they’ll miss. Suspension makes you feel hopeless and at risk because you are suspended and falling behind.

According to the same article, “The high levels of poverty on Native American Reservations do create barriers to educational success.” If the white people knew how hard it is to live on the Reservation, then they would understand. Instead of accusing us of not wanting to succeed, white people need to understand the reasons behind our behavior. Native Americans we are capable of proving wrong those who misunderstand our abilities to achieve.

Depression and Anxiety Create Barriers to Success

Most white people don’t understand how personal problems can keep Native youth from succeeding in the future. Thirty-nine percent of American Indians adolescent suffer from depression. According to Aisha Mays, MD UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine, “A lot of teens don’t get help for the depression they have.” When teens don’t get help for their depression it can cause harm or lack of self-worth. They need support when going through depression. 

Jerald G. Bachman, Patrick M. O’Malley and M. Brent Donnellan in a study entitled Adolescent Self-Esteem state that, “self- esteem relates to demographic characteristics such as race/ethnicity and, to a lesser extent, gender, and age.” Of course race/ethnicity causes lack of self-worth because of how Native youth are being treated.

Nobody should be feeling overwhelmed due to their ethnicity and race. In other words, People need to realize that Native youth feel sensitive about their stories and speak to them in ways that don’t condescend or make them feel put down.

Native Youth Caregivers

Taking care of family members can effect a Native youth’s education. What many people don’t realize is that Native youth feel pressure from their families to help care for younger siblings or older relatives while the parents work.

Here's why one student thinks you shouldn't tell a Native youth to stay in school. Her reasons and solutions might surprise you. #nativeyouth #nativeamerican #educaiton #success #graduation #mentorship

According to an article from the American Psychological Association, “as many as 1.4 million U.S. children age 8 to 18 are caring for a parent, grandparent or sibling with a disability or illness.” The article goes on to say that “Many of these young caregivers are from low-income, single-parent households.” For instance, young caregivers want to remain in school, but caregiving affects their education.

When young caregivers are in school their ability to concentrate drops, their mood changes, and they want to drop-out to care for their siblings or parents. Young caregivers might not achieve their goals or have a career in the future. According to Connie Siskowski, RN, PhD, of the American Association of Caregiving Youth, in a 2006 poll funded by the Gates Foundation, 22 percent of young adults who dropped out of the school for personal reasons cited family caregiving as their primary motive.

Youth should have support from other family members so they can keep up with their education. For that reason, people need to realize that Native youth are putting their lives on hold to care for their siblings or grandparents. People shouldn’t assume that kids just drop out of school because they want to.

We’d Like to Succeed: Here’s What We Need

Native Youth find it difficult when white people tell us to stay in school when they don’t really know how hard life is for us. Some say Native Americans can’t succeed, but we can prove them wrong. It would help if instead of people telling us to ‘Stay in school,’ they would ask us ‘What can we do to help make it possible for you to stay in school?’

Instead of telling Native youth to 'Stay in school,' adults should ask, 'How can we help make it possible for you to stay in school?' #education #nativeyouth Click To Tweet

White people don’t understand we put our lives on hold for our siblings and grandparents because we have that connection with them. If white people understand what we go through every day then it would be easier for us.

Thalia loves to read and she hopes that her love of reading will help her when she finishes high school and studies to work in the medical field.

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty Seems Impossible

Posted on by Montez Klah

Poverty and Native Youth

Native youth are subjected to all kinds of challenges and many hardships, but one thing is certain: poverty. It effects our Native youth in many ways. The reservation is full of the evidence of dysfunctional societies, from drunks to the chronically unemployed. The situation make Native youth feel helpless.

They are helpless because they are in careless and neglected environments. Kids who come from this environment look at themselves differently from other kids in modern society. What binds all of us like a silver cord is poverty, which many Native youth suffer from at this moment. Poverty is a horrible way to live, it gives Native American communities a poor economy, creates barriers to success, and the cycle endlessly repeats and starts over with new generations.

Kids live in poverty see themselves differently from other kids in modern society. #socialjustice #poverty #nativeyouth Click To Tweet

The Conditions of Poverty

One reason poverty thrives is the poor economy Native youth have to dealing with. My hometown is full of many drunks and unemployed people, because there aren’t enough jobs. I have alcoholic relatives who are unemployed and barely get by. There is little to no economic development on the reservation. For example, my community is building a new police station instead of a supermarket. 

Poverty creates more criminal activity. Two people I knew were recently shot and killed on the reservation. An article in the New York Times says that “310 reservations have violent crime rates that are two-and-a-half times the national average. Sexual assault is four times higher than the national average, and 43% of the Navajo Nation lives under the poverty line. While the national average household earns $43,000 a year, the Native household brings in almost half of that with $24,000 a year. Therefore, having a poor economy can affect the children in the poor communities that they and their families live in.

The other reason why poverty thrives is the environment that stops poor people from achieving goals. According to Partnership with Native Americans, the national average number of people with diplomas is 82% while the average for Native youth is only 69% (and only 53% graduate from Bureau of Indian Education schools).  Only 13% of Native Americans have college degrees. When people are in poor environments they struggle to learn about the world around them, the world beyond the Reservation. Bad schools, poor homes, violence, and people with bad influence affect Native youth in their surrounding environment.

Kids Can Adapt, but Should They?

Native youth can easily adapt to poverty and lose hope of ever having a better life. If a child is surrounded and raised in a bad environment, the more likely they can adapt and live with it when they are older. Parents on the Rez like to have fun, especially poor parents. But you can hurt your child by these careless acts such as leaving your young children home alone, or being emotionally distant when your children need you. If parents are aware of that their aciton will hurt their children, maybe they’ll think twice before acting this way. Adults need to think of the bigger picture, and possibly consider moving to a place where your kids will thrive and grow healthy.

The Failure of Governments

The system of self-governmnet on reservations contributes to the continuaiton of poverty. The Navajo and other Natives don’t improve or thrive, which perpetuates a whole new generation of people living in the cycle of poverty. Native governments and the national government should make lives better for its citizens. But both governments seem to be failing to do that for Natives. Sometimes Natives rely too much on the government and don’t put in the effort to succeed and thrive. But maybe that’s because no one expects more of us. 

A Native American high school student looks at poverty and how it affects him, his family, and his tribe members. His observations may surprise you. #nativeyouth #nativeamerican #poverty #socialjustice #educaiton

The Rosenthal Effect (also known as the Pygmalion Effect) shows that the behavior of other people can affect people around them. For example, if adults don’t expect much of children, the children won’t do much. Because of how the cycle keeps going it will continue unless we do something about it.

The way Native adults deal with poverty teaches their kids how to deal with it. And then those kids will pass it on to their children and the cycle of poverty will continue. Consequently, what kids hear or see can affect them and they will pass it on to their kids. We need to break the cycle that has bound us for future generations.

We need to do something about the poverty that affects our Native youth today. A poor economy can affect the Native youth that dwell in a poor region or area, creating a poor environment for Native youth. We perpetuate the cycle by what we do and pass on to new generations. 

Therefore, to ensure Native youth have a good future we need to get rid of the poor environments, break the barriers that stop them at key points in their lives, and stop the cycle of poverty from happening all over again. We need this for a better future for all Natives. Natives didn’t just survive all these hardships to be taken onto reservations and remain in a poverty. We survived and we will thrive with our hope for the next generation of Native American youth.

Montez is a member of the Navajo tribe. He spends most of his time in classes, and when he isn’t doing school work, he’s thinking of his family and missing them. When he isn’t stuck in a classroom, he’s on the Reservation with his family.

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