By Kim Young-jin
Staff reporter
Foreign students studying in Canada without their parents are far more susceptible to sexual abuse and drug use than their Canadian counterparts, according to a study released by the University of British Columbia, Tuesday.
Each year, thousands of East Asian students, mostly from Korea, China and Japan, stream to Canada to study English or attend high school through homestay programs.
Under the scheme, families pay for their children to study there while living with families who provide room and board.
But the industry ― worth an estimated $60 million annually in British Columbia alone ― has no oversight or screening processes, the study said.
“Until now, we haven’t really known how homestay teens compare health-wise, because homestay placement agencies are unregulated, and nobody is keeping track of the teens who come to Canada to study,” said Professor Sabrina Wong, who co-authored the study.
It found that 23 percent of female respondents from East Asian countries reported having been sexually abused, compared to eight percent of Canadian-born girls.
Among males and females, 25 percent of the homestay students were sexually active, more than twice the ratio of their Canadian counterparts.
They were also two to six times more likely to use cocaine compared to other students their age.
Elizabeth Saewyc, co-author and research director at the non-profit McCreary Center Society, said the rates of sexual abuse were far higher than expected.
“When you add to that the higher numbers of homestay girls using cocaine, a fairly uncommon drug among high school students, it raises a concern that some of them may be experiencing sexual abuse or exploitation here in Canada.”
The study also found the East Asian students to be up to four times more prone to smoking and far less likely to engage in extracurricular activities.
The study analyzed data from a 2003 survey of some 30,000 students in grades 7 through 12 in British Columbia, and focused on responses from East Asian homestay students. Their mean age was 16 years old.
Both Wong and Saewyc called for better oversight of the industry.
“When it comes to health, teenagers need parents or parent-like adults to provide guidance and support, not just room and board,” Wong said.