Conclusions and Recommendations

Youth identify with both the ethno-racial and cultural backgrounds of their parents and with Canadian culture. Their navigation between cultures while forming their identities can cause conflict and tension. Youth make some conscious decisions about how they will practice their cultures and express their identities. However, the pressures they feel from parents, peers and mainstream Canadian society can cause stress, isolation and pressure to conform to practices and identities that youth do not relate to and feel coerced into adopting. Youth expressed the desire to have the choice and the space to decide for themselves how they will express their identities as individuals and as ERM youth.

With regard to sexuality, the youth participants experienced significant conflicts between parental expectations, based on parents’ home cultures, and societal norms, which they are exposed to on a daily basis. Young females experience greater restrictions on dating and greater pressure to marry an “appropriate” partner. Very few participants indicated agreement with the messages they have received from parents. For the majority of participants, messages from parents about sexuality were either so out of sync with youths’ lived realities, or so uncomfortable to talk about, that they did not resonate or connect with youth.

This study reveals that communication between generations about sexuality happens mostly through different styles of communication. Youth perceived that sexuality is a taboo subject; however, clear messages were still transmitted. Youth were not fully satisfied with these messages, as they were often categorical, leaving little or no room for discussion of differing opinions. They were usually triggered by gossip based on other community members' experiences or by the portrayal of sexuality in Western media.

Accounts from older youth (in their 20s) indicate that family relationships change over time. Young adults are able to communicate with more ease with their parents, in particular their mothers, than when they were younger. Where youth were able to talk to their parents, it was often because it had become obvious to parents that youth are dating or sexually active, or because they no longer lived at home. Therefore, in some senses open communication about sexuality is only occurring “after the fact”, not when youth need information that will help them to make informed and healthy decisions. The extent of intergenerational communication is still impaired by awkwardness and the lack of timely communication on matters of sexuality.

Due to the fact that sexuality is a taboo subject, youth get unreliable information about sexuality from friends, or from personal experience, much in the same way as they believed their parents got information. This is not always a safe or healthy way for ERM youth to learn about sexuality.

ERM youth cope with conflicting or irrelevant messages about sexuality by pursuing their own paths in life while attempting to meet parental expectations. This requires tricky navigation, and may require duplicity – lies and secrets – to deal with the “bicultural” context in which they live. While some youth shaped their behavior to meet parental expectations, by delaying dating or staying in certain fields in school, this was not an option to many other youth. Through keeping secrets, relying on friends, joking, or mutually ignoring touchy subjects, many youth maintained control over what information they gave their parents. They did this not only for their own sakes, but also to “protect” their parents. They felt parents did not want to know about their sexuality and worried about gossip getting into the community and causing their parents embarrassment.

The experiences of these youth appear to indicate that many are facing expectations that they feel are impossible or unrealistic for them to live up to. Their lived realities differ drastically from parental expectations. Youth need ways to express themselves and make their voices heard so they can fight the taboo around talking about sexuality and gain access to information that is relevant and meaningful. This will promote their emotional and physical health by ensuring that ERM youth make informed choices.

Implications for Health Promotion
Health promotion needs to resonate with ERM youth and their experiences as minorities in Canada, as well as their experiences with sexuality. Much of the current research studies on health promotion for adolescents has been conducted using Western values, and “stress individual autonomy over inter-generational interdependence, individual rather than social approaches to decision-making, and competition over cooperation” (Friedman in Schellenberg, Ormond and Linneback 2001). The perception of adolescence as a time of individualism and separation may not resonate with or apply to ERM youth and their families, who value the importance of interconnectedness and do not view adolescence as a process of becoming autonomous from the family.

Health promotion must also recognize the importance of relationships, including intimate or romantic relationships as a part of adolescent development (Schellenberg, Ormond and Linneback 2001). Sexual activity can play an important role in adolescent development and identity formation, and can contribute to emotional well-being and to the perceived quality of relationships (ibid).

The lived realities of interconnectedness, intimacy and sexuality in ERM youth’s experiences must be recognized in adolescent health promotion research. ERM youth’s worldviews and desire for meaningful relationships may be expressed through sexuality, and health promotion should include research on the contributions that these expressions can make to health and well-being.

Implications for Future Research
For many of youth participants, this was the first time that they had opened up on the topics that emerged through the questions. At the beginning the participants, and sometimes the interviewers themselves, indicated a certain level of constraint when talking about sexuality. However, by the end of the interview process, participants acknowledged that they believed their experiences and views would help other ERM youth. These incursions into unexplored aspects of ethno-racial minority youth identity also indicate the need to further explore some of these aspects in more depth.

As well, the ERM youth team was essential in recruiting and interviewing other ERM youth and making them comfortable enough to share their personal stories. The community-based research process was also a positive experience for the youth research team, who connected as a group and learned new skills. Their success as a youth research team indicates that more such projects and programs should be created for ERM youth with the leadership and participation of ERM youth.

Issues raised relating to the subject of this project demand further research to fully understand the many dynamics that were revealed. This includes ERM youth’s experience of racism, and how race, ethnicity and cultural backgrounds play a role in sexuality and ideas of socially acceptable or prospective intimate partnership. As well, we need a better understanding of the implications of racial, ethnic and cultural aspects of sexuality on the social cohesion and integration of ERM youth into Canadian society.

Some of these issues raised by youth during research that were beyond the scope of this project provide guidance on areas for future research on ERM youth experiences of sexuality. These include research regarding the implications of sexuality within gang related activities among minority youth, sexual practices and sexually transmitted infections and HIV among ERM youth, and sexuality related experiences among international students.

Recommendations

Some recommendations for schools, community organizations, governments and the public that emerge from this research include:

• Educate the public about ongoing racism and discrimination against visible minorities in Canadian society

For example, equity programs may act as an incentive and provide visible minorities’ access to services, employment and educational opportunities that many youth felt helped them to access opportunities that would not have been available to them otherwise. However, as one participant noted, even these equity programs may reinforce racism in Canadian society, in particular among those who do not believe in the disadvantages faced by minority groups. Greater public education of the realities facing visible minorities, including immigrants to Canada is needed to combat this racism and build understanding.

• Include youth 17 and under in discussions about racism, adaptation in Canada and sexuality to get their perspectives on the impact of these aspects on youth identity formation and the supports that youth need to deal with them

• Create culturally-appropriate and youth-appropriate approaches to sexuality education:
o Participants considered a peer education approach to be more appropriate in dealing with sexuality
o Participants indicated that having educators of similar ethno-racial background, age and life experience would make education more effective
o Youth believed that community-based education would provide relevant information and a more appropriate environment to share and deal with sexuality issues

• Improve current school-based sexuality education:
o Most participants felt that sexuality related information from schools was too limited and sporadic
o Youth would like to see the inclusion of materials and discussions reflecting the realities of minority youth, including their struggles fitting in to Canadian society
o There is a need to expand the content beyond regular health topics (reproductive system or sexually transmitted infections)
o There is a need to include social related issues that contribute to youth sexuality and sexual behaviours and practices, such as dating and peer relationships

• Increase outreach to ERM parents and youth on issues of intergenerational communication, sexuality and acculturation to Canada

The youths’ lack of awareness of resources dealing with issues of adaptation to Canada and sexuality highlights the need for greater outreach to ERM youth and their parents. Participants believed that parents, family members and the community would benefit from discussing sexuality matters. Community organizations, schools and media can help by promoting intergenerational communication and creating an atmosphere of safe mutual learning between parents and youth.