A Reflection on the Dark Side of the Aborigines

     When looking into the issues the Aborigines have with health, drugs, alcohol, and crime, I see a lack of education about these topics as a major catalyst. When the harmful substances were introduced into their culture by foreigners, they had never seen nor been familiar with them at all. Naturally the only way to learn about unknown things is to experiment with them, and in their case on a simple level. Meaning, by trying out the drugs they became aware of the "attractive" effects of them without ever gaining proper knowledge about what they actually do to their bodies, and how bad they truly are. While this is easily observed with the adolescent members of this community, it is still frequently seen throughout the adult members as well. It is not surprising however because this correlation is occuring in every country, United States included. Even here, in areas of lower then average socio economic status, proper education on health and drugs lack and in turn these issues are more prevalent and of course crime rates go hand in hand. The percentage of children and teenagers in school full time in the Aborigine community is considerably less then the Australian average. Its a chain reaction that starts young and often goes on indefinitely.

     When I was in high school, and even in middle school, I was required to take classes that taught us specifically about how to be healthy, as well as classes specifically about drugs, their harmful effects, and how to deal with different situations involving them. This was all simple and basic information, but it was very important and could in many cases be life saving. I had a good amount of background knowledge about what was being taught, and there was still a lot of things that I learned that was new to me, and gave me new perspectives. To someone like an Aborigine who would most likely have little to no background knowledge on the topics, the information would be extremely valuable. It could turn entire communities around if it's members were set straight. These indigenous people are already limited in numbers and are not putting themselves in a good position to grow. If they continue to let poverty, drugs, disease and crime play as big a role as it does in their community, there is no telling what could happen to the last of their people. I believe they need to stop allowing the negatives of the outside world effect their indigenous culture and remember their roots and traditional ways, and revert back to its natural, pure core.