Residential Schools in Canada

Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools established to

integrate Native children. Children were separated from their parents for multiple years , and
were tortured. A federal cabinet minister in 1883 said, “In order to educate the children
properly we must separate them from their families…some people may say that this is hard,
but if we want to civilize them we must do that.” Residential schools affected survivors, as
well as their children and grandchildren.

Life in residential schools were harsh. The children were beat, electrocuted, and many
became ill; others died. Girls and boys were not allowed to talk to each other. Boys were beat
more often than girls were. School days began early. Food was limited and the children
would starve. Some schools would allow little recreation time. The children were not
allowed to run, and would be so bored that they would walk around in a circle. Evening
recreation was limited, and bedtime was early. Weekends varied the routine by eliminating
classes, but Sunday usually meant more time spent on religious observances. Visits from
their parents were limited. Children were let out of residential schools after the age of 16, but
some could not connect and understand with their family member ’s afters those years. They
could not understand or speak the language, and some would go back to the residential
schools, as that was what they called home. Many children died in residential schools, from
disease as well as torture. Many children suffered from tuberculosis, and the healthy children
became ill as well because they were placed with the ill. They were forced to attend lessons
even if they were sick, and were punished by being forced to eat their own vomit, getting
electrocuted, as well as being beaten.

Students were isolated and their cultures were ridiculed . They were removed from
their homes and parents, separated from some of their siblings and in some cases forbidden
to speak their first language, even in letters home to their parents. They were physically and
sexually abused, and tried to escape. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,
at least 3,200 Indigenous children died in the overcrowded residential schools. They were
underfed and malnourished, and were vulnerable to diseases such as tuberculosis. Parents
were not notified if their children had died, and therefore would not show up if their children
had died. The number of children who died were higher because at least 150000 children
were sent to residential schools and 40% of them died.
 Residential schools also affected survivors as well as their children and grandchildren.
Survivors became strangers to their home and native land, nurturing relationships destroyed
relationships between children, parents and family members, and affected their mental
health. Children and grandchildren would start to think about the abuse that their parents
went through. They lived in fear because they did not know when they would be hit.
Children became vulnerable because their parents were not exposed to the proper family
relationships a family should have. Many were abused by their parents or family members
that had survived residential schools. Some grew up not knowing their own language and felt
ashamed about their identity. Survivors managed to bring terror and fear back to their family,
when they were released from residential schools. The children of the survivors of residential
schools commit suicide more than the survivors of residential schools as well.

All in all, residential schools play a huge role in Canadian history as it shows how
Canadians treated the Natives. Residential schools killed many children, and affected many
families.

Work Cited:

CBCTheNational. YouTube. YouTube, 02 June 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

Miller, J.R. "Residential Schools." The Canadian Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr.
2017.