REDS, WHITES & THE BLUES
repeating Saturdy Septmeber 2, 2007 at 11pm on CBC Newsworld
Four savvy teenagers from the Rez take us to their White high
schools and show us why most native kids don’t graduate.
Kiki, Chelsey, Jordan and Marcus live on the Tsleil-Waututh
Nation, an urban Indian Reserve in the shadow of Vancouver. The
odds of finishing high school are against them, even though they
live in a middle class environment and attend a good school.
Statistics show that only 4 out of 10 Native teenagers who live
on Reserves complete their high school education.
The CBC’s Duncan McCue wanted to find out why Native kids continue to fall behind in school, so he asked these four to share their lives with their own cameras, and with ours. They are in grades 10 and 11, they are friends, and they are typical teenagers. Each of them has a lot of potential, but as we follow them through the second half of the school year, we see the events and circumstances that distract and discourage them.
We soon learn that three of
the teens are at risk for failing, and one of those is headed
for serious trouble. At the close of the school year, the community,
alarmed at what has been going on right on the Reserve, takes
a dramatic step to protect it’s children.
Reds, Whites & the Blues is a Newsworld in-house production
co-produced with CBC Vancouver.
