teachings and training for manual labour. (Miller) The children forced to attend these schools were between the ages of 7 and 15, and boys and girls were kept separate; brothers and sisters were not allowed to interact. These children didn’t get to see their families at all during the school year and some were able to visit during the summer months, however since they weren’t allowed to speak their native language or learn about their culture, many families couldn’t connect. (Wilk) They couldn’t speak the same language, and their
children had no
knowledge of their
culture at all, and
these children spent
most of their early
lives in school so
they had no chance
to form a connection
with their parents or
other family
members. (CBCNews)
Children only attended these schools until they were 15 at which time they were allowed to return to their family, but many choose to stay until they were 18 or they went out on their own because they had no connection to their family, these schools and how they were treated their was all they knew. Nobody had ever taught them any different so these kids thought this treatment was normal. The ones who did return to their families had a really hard time because they couldn’t easily communicate with their own parents and they didn’t understand their parents way of life and they had missed out on roughly 9 years of teachings and traditional celebrations, they were alienated in their own communities. They didn’t have the skills to help their parents, and many became ashamed of their heritage. As well what they were taught in these schools were helpful life skills, these children had no idea how to live on their own. It would be understandable why some kids stayed, they were isolated in every other part of the world.