Health Issues In Residential Schools

Thank you for taking time to read my letter. As a nursing student of University of Technology Sydney, I studied contemporary indigenous subject this semester. In this letter I want to illustrate 3 main social determinants of health that impact indigenous Australian health which I found and analysed during my recently study. And also offer some suggestion that could help the government improve aboriginal Australian mental health conditions in the future.

“Many Aborigines removed from their families complained of harsh conditions, denial of parental contact and cultural heritage, harsh punishment and physical and sexual abuse” (Buti), the ruthless encounters the australian aborigines faced were just as violent as the Canadian aborigines. The teachers in the Australian schools were also taught to instil the christian religion and strip the children of any aboriginal cultural identity. The children explain their experience in these schools and describe the authority that is supposed to be taking care of

In order to propogate the knowledge of above determinants and improve health status of Canadians, Health Canada has set up a number of community heath organizations and agencies. The work of these agencies can consist of creating awareness, improving socio-economic status, advocating better working conditions and so on. Unfortunately, many groups such as aboriginal people, recent immigrants and people with disabilities experience challenges in accessing these resources and still cotinue to lead an unhealthy life.

In the 1990's, Chris Sarra was the principal of Cherbourg School in Queensland. His “Strong and Smart” philosophy (Education Queensland, 2003) of indigenous education significantly made a difference (Community member, Warry John Stanley states in interview of the film) by improving their educational abilities, increased school attendance, increased community involvement, developed a sense of their own identity and improved the life outcomes of the indigenous students. Children who are in low income households are most likely to experience health problems, although some researchers have highlighted the links between poverty and poor health, it is very important for the education staff to recognise the directionality of this relationship, as Wagstaff (2002) argues, ‘poverty breed ill-health, ill-health maintains poverty’

The main historical force that has contributed to Tom and his family’s situation, is the lasting effects of the residential school system on Aboriginal parenting. Although it is unclear in this case whether or not Tom’s parents are victims of residential schools, the lasting affects caused by residential schools still exists within every member of the Aboriginal community. The common misconception during the time of residential schools was that Aboriginal people were unable to care for their own children, and this responsibility must be put in the hands of the state. This misconception continues to exist within contemporary Canadian society, as the intergenerational trauma that exists within Aboriginal communities, which was caused by residential schools and the sixties scoop, has caused some members of Canadian society to believe that Aboriginal people are still unable to parent their own children. The misconception that Aboriginal parents, in this case Tom’s parents, are unable to parent their children grew due the fact that the development of effective parenting skills and child rearing behaviours within the Aboriginal community was ruined due to the residential school system, as children were separated from their family and were not able to be taught and shown how to properly handle parenting (Collins

Usually, the schools were built in areas where they were far away from the Aboriginal homes, which therefore cut off ties with family and community influences. In these residential schools, children were stripped of their identity of their heritage where they were forbidden to speak their native language and where only English was allowed to be spoken; not allowed to wear their native clothing, this caused children the loss of their belief in their traditions of their native culture due to not being able to put them in practice because they were the “Other” which is considered inferior (rel after 304). The most horrible things of this residential school if the children did speak their native language or did anything native such as rituals they were punished. The Aboriginal children went through a cruel amount of abuses through emotional, physical and sexual which are life threatening to the children, this is considered a scaring and impacted many Aboriginal people with repercussions of the loss of

Socioeconomic factors are associated with education, employment, and income, and each, has a substantial influence on the health of Indigenous Australians. Education, which is inaccessible for many Indigenous people, allows for the greater knowledge of health issues, and the increased understanding of both protective behaviors and risk factors. It is a known fact that with a lack of education or one that is poor, there is a increased risk that there will be less employment opportunities – ultimately leading to little or no income. Hence, the vicious poverty cycle is born. Education enables

     Many of the inequalities in the health of the Aboriginal people can be attributed to the

The following report will focus on the health plan Koolin Balit: Victorian Government strategic directions for Aboriginal health 2012-2022 (Koolin Balit). This report will firstly provide an overview of Koolin Balit and will discuss the selected health plan Key Priority Area Two: Healthy Childhood. The at-risks groups pre-school and primary school aged Aboriginal children affected by the priority area will then be discussed. There are three Determinants of Health (DOH) that will be focused on throughout the report, these being education, food (access to and distribution) and access to care and health services (Keleher & MacDougall, 2016). Evidence will be used throughout the report to support the DOH and discuss the relevance of the DOH to Key Priority Area Two: Healthy Childhood.

Indian Horse, written by Richard Wagamese tells the life story of a man named Saul Indian Horse and he describes his many years at residential school and how they affected his life. From the 1870s to the mid-1990s Indian residential schools were put in place to “civilize” the Indian child; the primary goal of residential schools was to take the Indian out of the child. Richard Wagamese’s, Indian Horse sheds light on the different horrors that aboriginal children were forced to endure while at residential school. Aboriginal children were severely physically abused, psychologically abused, and girls as well as boys were forced to perform physically demanding and often dangerous tasks during their time at these institutions

My current research Project focuses on improving physical, social, and psychological health among the indigenous Australians. With active participation in this project i understand indigenous health issues and the causes of morbidity and mortality in indigenous Australians as compared to other Australians. It is important to consider culturally appropriate assessment and intervention focused on indigenous health and well-being. While doing this project i provided emotional support and encourage them to achieve better health outcomes. The regular communication with indigenous Australians I understood the barriers they perceive and opportunities available to them.

Colonialism in Australia places a detrimental threat to the health of Indigenous Australians. Inherent in colonialism were scientific racisms, institutional racism and structural violence. These factors continues to persist in the fabric of Australian society today and limits the life chances of Indigenous Australians. This essay illuminates colonialism as a major contributor to the social marginalisation and low socioeconomic status experienced by indigenous Australian. An analysis of Aboriginal infant mortality rate, a health indicator highlights the difference between biomedical and sociological approach and the embedded negative impact of social marginalisation and low socioeconomic status on the health of Indigenous Australians. The

Residential schools have played very important role in Aboriginal people’s life and Canadian Government, same as Australia’s Government had created “The Stolen Generation”. Canada and Australia had very common history, both countries were colonized by the European, White people. Residential schools were seen by society as a way to modernize the native population so, they could teach and prepare them for the society they want to create and the way they see their society. Austrian government had same intention but, they wanted to stop their entire society. They both government may have different perspective but, they both wanted the same thing. This essay will mainly focus on how these two government change two communities and their society so,

Moran (1992) began following William and Nancy, an impoverished, illiterate couple living in the ghetto of Prince George during the 1940’s (p. 81). They had a family of fifteen living children together, thirteen of which received income assistance. By 1960, the family increased in size to 65 members and the majority of the grandchildren had been in care or incarcerated (Moran, 1992, p. 81). Circumstances hadn’t changed for this family by 1965- Moran shared that 80% of William and Nancy’s descendants were “dependent on government funding” and the poverty-related social ramifications of low literacy, inadequate housing, poor physical and mental health resulted in a “reoccurring pattern of anti-social behavior” (Moran, 1992, pp. 81, 145). When Moran and her coworkers attempted to determine the financial impact this family had on provincial resources, they concluded that “this multiple-problem family had cost many hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of dollars…the cost in terms of waste and suffering was beyond description and equally incalculable” (Moran, 1992, p. 82). Twenty years later, the family consisted of over 1000 members, with “700-800 in social or financial distress” (Moran, 1992, p. 146). This story demonstrated to me the importance of not just giving adequate funding to families with historical poverty – rather, providing education tailored to a family’s needs along with services such as

Regardless of its main purpose to educate the Aboriginal people, the institution’s lack in providing a pleasurable environment for the children resulting in the deaths of many. Because (better word) of the minimum costs of constructing these schools by the government, it becomes a problems with the buildings poorly constructed and it was poorly(another word) being taken care of. As funding arose in the eighteenth century, difficulties also arose as it was hard to search for certified teachers. (we are the children) The conditions inside the school were ignored with such little notice of the surrounding areas in the institutions. It is evident that the factors of the school resulted in poorly working conditions with overcrowded pupils all