Long and Winding Road: Adolescents and Youth in Canada Today

Long and Winding Road

Adolescents and Youth in Canada Today

Vappu Tyyska

Canadian Scholars' Press Inc.

Long and Winding Road: Adolescents and Youth in Canada Today Vappu Tyyska First published in 2001 by Canadian Scholars' Press Inc. 180 Bloor Street West, Suite 801 Toronto, Ontario M5S 2V6 www.cspi.org

Copyright © 2001 Vappu Tyyska and Canadian Scholars' Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without the written permission of Canadian Scholars' Press, except for brief passages quoted for review purposes. In the case of photocopying, a licence from CANCOPY may be obtained: Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, One Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1E5, (416) 868-1620, fax (416) 868-1621, toll-free 1-800-893-5777, www.cancopy.com. Canadian Scholars' Press gratefully acknowledges financial assistance for our publishing activities from the Ontario Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program. Every reasonable effort has been made to identify copyright holders. CSPI would be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to its attention. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Tyyska, Vappu, 1956Long and winding road : adolescents and youth in Canada today Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-55130-194-6 1. Adolescence—Canada. 2. Teenagers—Canada. I. Title. HQ799.C3T99 2001

C2001-902005- 8

305.235'0971

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(PuBCisher's Acknowledgements

Material from Canada's Teens: Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow copyright © 2001 by Reginald Bibby. Reprinted by permission of Stoddart Publishing Co. Limited. Excerpt from The Sociology of Education in Canada: Critical Perspectives by Terry Wotherspoon. Copyright © Oxford University Press Canada 1998. Excerpt from Enter at Your Own Risk: Canadian Youth and the Labour Market copyright © 1998 by Richard Marquardt. Reprinted by permission of Between the Lines. Excerpt from How Teens Got The Power: Gen Y has cash, the cool - and a burgeoning consumer culture copyright © 1999 by Andrew Clark. Reprinted by permission of Maclean's. Excerpt from Rave Fever: raves are all the rage, but drugs are casting a pall over their sunny peace-and-love ethos copyright © 2000 by Susan Oh. Reprinted by permission of Maclean's. Excerpt from Wild Ones Through the Ages: Some of the Youth Movements that have Captivated Kids - and in most cases, scandalized parents - over the past 60 years copyright © 2000 by Maclean's. Reprinted by permission of Maclean's. Excerpt from Immigrant Youth in Canada copyright © 2000 by the Canadian Council on Social Development. Reprinted with permission from the Canadian Council on Social Development. Excerpt from Cool: The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence copyright © 1994 by Marcel Danesi. Reprinted with permission of University of Toronto Press, Inc. Excerpt from Girl Talk: Adolescent Magazines and Their Readers copyright © 1999 by D. Currie. Reprinted with permission from University of Toronto Press, Inc.

Excerpt from L. Davies et al. "On My Own: A New Discourse of Dependence and Indepenence for Teen Mothers" is here reprinted from J. Wong and D. Checkland, eds., Teen Pregnancy and Parenting: Social & Ethical Issues. Copyright © 1999 James Wong and David Checkland. Reprinted with permission of University of Toronto Press, Inc. Excerpt from Teen Pregnancy and Parenting: Social and Ethical Issues copyright © 1999 by James Wong and David Checkland. Reprinted with permission of University of Toronto Press, Inc. Excerpt from A Black Man's Toronto 1914-1980: The Reminiscences of Harry Gairey copyright © 1981 by Harry Gairey. Reprinted by permission of The Multicultural History Society of Ontario. The Multicultural History Society of Ontario reserves the copyright and reproduction of the book in whole or in part without express permission is prohibited. Excerpt from Girls, Media, and the Negotiation of Sexuality: A Study of Race, Class, and Gender in Adolescent Peer Groups copyright © 1999 by M. Durham. R e p r i n t e d by permission of Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. Excerpt from Up To No Good: Black on the Streets and Encountering Police copyright © 1998 by Carl E. James. Reprinted by Permission of Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Excerpt from The Transition To Adult Roles: Youth Views and Policy Implications copyright © 1996 by Dianne E. Looker and Graham Lowe. Reprinted by permission of Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Excerpt from George Gerbner, "Who Is Shooting Whom? The Content and Context of Media Violence," is here reprinted from Murray Pomerance and John Sakeris, eds., Bang Bang, Shoot Shoot! Essays on Guns and Popular Culture, 2nd edition, Copyright © 2000, 1999 by Murray Pomerance and John Sakeris. Excerpt from Results of An Ontario Secondary School Study copyright © 1988 by Alan King, Robert Perreault, and Kevin Roester. Reprinted with permission of Canadian Journal of Public Health. Published in CJPH 1988; 79 (Suppl. 2): 546-547. Excerpt from Minimum-wage Workers Disproportionately Young copyright © 1998 by Bruce Little. Reprinted with permission from The Globe and Mail. Excerpt from Under the Gaze. Learning to be Black in a White Society copyright © 1998 by Jennifer Kelly. Reprinted with permission from Fernwood Publishing Co. Limited. Excerpt from Nancy Mandell and Ann Duffy, Restructuring the Canadian Family: Feminist Perspectives, p. 64. Copyright © 1998, Butterworths Canada, Ltd. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace, Ltd. Excerpt from Young People Say. Report from the Youth Consultation Initiative reprinted with the permission of the National Crime Prevention Centre, Department of Justice, Government of Canada.

Excerpt from Everyday Racism copyright © 2001 by Kirk Moss. Reprinted by permission of Young People's Press (equalitytoday.org). Excerpt from "Queer S e l v e s / Q u e e r in Schools. Young Men and Sexualities" copyright © 1994 by Blye Frank. Reprinted by permission of CCPA Education Project (policyalternatives.ca). Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of the Minister of Industry, as Minister responsible for Statistics Canada. Information on the availablity of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from Statistics Canada's Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at http: / / www.statscan.ca. and it toll free access number 1-800263-1136.

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Contents

List of Tables and Figures Preface

xi xiii

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION What is Wrong with Young People Today? Defining Adolescence and Youth Today Theories and Ideologies of Youth Conservative Theories: Conformity Critical Theories: Age and Stratification Race, Ethnicity, and Immigrant Status A Short History of Native Youth A Short History of Black Youth Youth in the White Mainstream Idleness and Morality The Prolongation of Adolescence and Youth Conclusions

3 4 7 10 11 14 17 18 20 24 27 28 30

CHAPTER 2 - EDUCATION Rising Levels of Education Secondary Schools Dropping Out Colleges and Universities Student Loans Inequality in Education Social Class

33 34 35 37 39 40 41

33

Gender Gender and Educational Aspirations and Expectations Gender Tracking Sexual Harassment Ethnic and Race Minorities and Education Institutionalized Racism in Education Conclusions

43 46 48 49 51 55 57

CHAPTER 3 - WORK From the Frying Pan into the Fire: Youth Labour Markets Youth Employment and Unemployment Cohort Effects and Economic Cycles Where are the Jobs? The Benefits of Education vs. Educational Inflation and Credentialism Life-Long Learning? Gender and Employment Experiences Race, Ethnicity, and Employment Experiences Earnings: Are Youth too Greedy? Employment Policy Youth and Unions The Informal Work Sector: Toronto's Squeegee Kids Conclusions

61

67 70 72 74 75 78 79 80 83

CHAPTER 4 - FAMILY AND INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Power in Families Family Structure Family Poverty Remarriage Parenting and Socialization Gender Socialization Racial Socialization Impact of Children on Parents Intergenerational Power Developmental Stake and Generation Gap Adolescent-Parent Relations in Immigrant Families Intergenerational Cultural Retention Leaving Home

87 88 89 91 92 96 98 98 100 100 103 105 106

61 62 63 65

87

The Empty Nest The Crowded Nest Family Violence and Castaway Kids Youth in Care and Street Youth Youth and Mental Health Conclusions

107 108 Ill 116 122 124

CHAPTER 5 - INTIMATE AND SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS Relationship Patterns Living Single Courtship and Dating Sexual Orientation Sexual Behaviour Safe Sex and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Teenage Pregnancies Marriage and Common-Law Relationships Domestic Division of Labour Relationship Violence Conclusions

127 127 128 129 132 135 139 141 146 150 151 155

CHAPTER 6 - PEERS, IDENTITY, CULTURE, AND POLITICS Youth Among Themselves 159 Friendships, Peer Groups, and Youth Culture 160 Diversity and Youth Culture 161 Youth and Institutions: Participatory Youth Culture .... 165 Youth in Politics and Social Movements 166 Parental Influence 172 Home-Based Youth Culture: The Media Invasion 173 Hooked onto the Screen 173 Magazines 175 Music 177 Marketing and Consumerism 178 Street-Based Youth Culture: Partying 180 Raves 182 The Use of Legal and Illegal Drugs 186 Illegal Drugs 186 Legal Drugs: Alcohol and Tobacco 188 Conclusions 191

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CHAPTER 7 - CRIME AND DELINQUENCY Troublemakers? Youth as Victims of Violence Youth as Perpetrators of Violence and Crime Gender and Youth Crime Race, Ethnicity, and Youth Crime Why Do Youth Engage in Criminal Behaviour? Peers, Gangs, and Delinquent Subcultures Skinheads and Hate Groups Moral Panics, the Police, and Juvenile Law Conclusions CHAPTER 8 - CONCLUSIONS So You Say We Need a Revolution? Family Life Education and Employment Young People's Relationships Criminalizing Youth What is the Real Problem and What Can be Done About it? An Integrated Life-Course Approach to Policies Related to Youth Sources

195 195 198 200 205 207 209 211 213 215 220 223 223 225 226 228 229 231 232 235

List of Figures and Tables

Table 1.1. Population by Sex and Age (1999)

10

Figure 2.1. Porportion of Young Men and Women Attending School, 1921-1991

44

Table 2.1. Women as a Proportion of Full-Time Enrolment by Level, 1992-93

45

Table 2.2. Education by Highest Level of Schooling Completed, Ages 15-19, Aboriginal Peoples and Total Canadian Population

53

Table 3.1. Population 15 Years and Over by Sex, Age Groups and Labour Force Activity, for Canada, Provinces and Territories, 1981-1996 Census (20% Sample Data)

64

Table 3.2. A High Proportion of Post-Secondary Graduates Work in Clerical, Sales, Service or Blue Collar Jobs

66

Table 3.3. 1995 Graduates Were Least Successful Finding Full-Time Work and High Level Jobs

69

Table 3.4. Over One in Four Graduates Reported Great Difficulty in Finding a Well-Paying Job

70

Table 4.1. The Proportion of Young Adults Living at Home has been Rising Over the Past 15 Years

109

Table 4.2. Child and Youth Victims of Assault Reported to Police by Accused-Victim Relationship, 1999

113

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Long and'Winding