threatening anxiety and depression in these young people and undermining academic performance.
Death from Drugs The figures with regard to drug deaths (Indicator II.2) find the United Kingdom in the unenviable position of reporting the highest rates. The United States and Canada report rates that are 23 and 39 percent lower, respectively. These are figures, it should be stressed,
Ind.)II.3:)Proportion)of)Population)that)is) ForeignHBorn,)2011) Canada!
20.1!
U.S.!
13.0!
Germany!
13.0!
U.K.!
12.0!
France!
9.0!
Italy!
8.9!
Finland!
4.9! 1.7!
Japan! China!
0.0! 0.0!
7.0!
14.0!
21.0!
Sources:)OECD,)Society)at)a)Glance,)2014;)and)World)Bank,)2014)
!
related to drug overdoses, not to deaths associated with the criminal aspects of the drug trade. While the figures
These figures, of course, represent both children and
include adults, frequently celebrities from the worlds of
adults, but they offer an indication of the complexity
entertainment and sports, they inevitably also include
immigration adds to school system functioning. It is not
young people of school age.
unusual, for example, to hear that in many American
Italy and France report rates of death from drugs at about one-third the rate reported in the United States. Deaths from drugs in China, Japan, and Finland appear to be significantly lower.
communities, 40 or more languages are spoken by students enrolled in the local school district. The school challenge is not limited to the children, but extends to parents as well. The parents’ mastery of the language of the new host nation is often more limited than the child’s. In consequence, many immigrant parents are unable to communicate effectively with the child’s teacher or participate fully in the life of the school. Canada displays an unusually high proportion of foreign-born residents, fully one in five. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany are tightly grouped together, with 12 or 13 percent of the population being foreign born. France and Italy also report almost identical rates of around 9 percent, with Finland reporting the lowest rate among European nations, namely 4.9
! Immigration The immigration data provided here stands, in some ways, as a proxy for diversity, albeit an incomplete one. Immigration enriches our society but adds complexity
percent. The rate for Japan is extremely low, less than 2 percent, while the rate in China is estimated to be close to zero percent. The inclusion of this indicator is not intended to be xenophobic or a judgment on the economic benefits or costs of immigration. It is an acknowledgment of the obvious: adding significant numbers of children who are
to educators’ tasks, by enrolling students from different
foreign born, with limited ability to speak the language of
backgrounds, often speaking different languages, at
their adopted nation, greatly complicates the lives of
different points in the K-12 education journey. On
educators in Europe and North America. Yet it is hardly a
indicator II.3, it seems that Canada followed by the
factor at all in the two Asian nations included here.
United States and Germany face the more difficult challenges among these nine nations.
!21