The latest State of the Child Report reveals some alarming findings when it comes to bullying, child pornography offences and sleep quality.
Fifty-two per cent of youth reported being bullied in 2015-16, down from 58 per cent three years earlier.
But Norm Bossé, the province’s Child and Youth Advocate, told our newsroom it is not good enough.
“When you break that bullying number down, for example, 60 per cent of the First Nations students said they were bullied,” Bossé said. “70 per cent who live in poorer conditions said they had been bullied.”
Child porn offences
The report also shows New Brunswick has a disproportionately high charge rate for child pornography offences — 17.0 per 100,000 people, compared to the national average of 11.9.
Bossé said the reasons are not broken down for his office but they believe it has to do with better policing.
“They’re catching a lot more people through the use of the internet, through the use of police activities, both nationally and internationally,” he said.
Adequate sleep
Bossé said the report also found New Brunswick youth are getting low levels of adequate sleep.
He said the numbers have improved slightly, but are still pretty stagnant.
“We have an average of 39 per cent who say that they sleep eight hours or more a night,” Bossé said, noting the number drops to 31 per cent among Aboriginal youth and 25 per cent for food insecure youth.
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Story by Brad Perry
Twitter: @BradMPerry
Email: perry.brad@radioabl.ca
(Photo submitted)
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