Racism In Schools A Huge Factor Young Māori Are Suffering From Mental Health And Leaving School Early

A report focusing on health and wellbeing in Māori youth has found racism to be a leading factor in wellbeing decline, with schools being a major source of the perpetuation of racial biases and discrimination.

Lead researcher Dr Teah Carlson (Te Whānau ā Āpanui, Ngāti Porou, Waikato-Tainui, Kōtimana) said the report revealed an alarming connection between racism and the mental health of Māori youth.

“Every rangatahi interviewed would talk about an experience of racism in terms of personal attacks, being followed in shops, a racist experience from a teacher where they would come into an advanced class and being told ‘oh you are not meant to be here’ when in fact they were.” She said.

The report also exposed that discrimination experienced by Māori youth has been observed to cause emotional distress, erode self-esteem, and create feelings of isolation within their communities which for some youth has led to suicidal thoughts.

“This constant endurance of racism in schools, whether subtle or not, coupled with challenges already faced by many young Māori including limited access to basic needs such as food and housing adds pressure to a developmentally stressful period of life,” Dr Carlson adds.

Research participants echo the sentiments made by Dr Carlson, with one mentioning the feeling of worthlessness at school stating, “I just thought that I was dumb, until now like I actually reflect, it’s like oh that was a reason why I didn’t care about life, there was a reason why I didn’t want to go to school, or I just didn’t listen to the teachers, yeah.”

Another participant recognised the lack of support by the school system, “I left school because school was awful and it wasn’t even to do with bullying or anything, it was literally just the schooling system and all the pressure that is placed on you.”

Drug use was also a contributing factor and it was found that schools were not properly prepared to support youth with the management of this and other mental health challenges.

“I was suicidal. And I knew I shouldn’t have been thinking about it, doing that and self-harming. So yeah. I think I just felt really desperate, and I never obviously liked feeling that way. So, because I did try and reach out to my school counsellor, but that didn’t really work out for me. I don’t think she really understood it. But the school counsellor didn’t have a good reputation anyway, so I wasn’t too surprised about it.” Said one participant.

Dr Carlson and her team believe that the report encourages the need for a complete infiltration of teacher training programmes and current teaching standards to include a level of cultural competency and safety that removes biases and other barriers to understanding Māori and other indigenous perspectives.

"This report should serve as a guide for policy and legislation across the board," said Dr Carlson, "for example, the ill-informed move to criminalise 12 year olds for ram-raids focuses more on punishment as opposed to investing in quality education and support for rangatahi that factors in cultural competency and safety," she adds.

“There is a layered approach to racist systems that exist. There should be individual accountability from teachers where they would be assessed for their practice. There is an awesome kaupapa called cultural safety which requires all teachers to consider their own cultural background and its impact on their power, privilege and personal biases in relationship with rangatahi. This needs to be embedded in teacher training, professional development and in their accountabilities within schools.” Dr Carlson concludes.

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