Residential schools had horrible effects on both the students who attended them and the generations which followed as the conditions were terrible, abuse left scarring memories and the actions/incidents had a dreadful impact on their life. Living conditions of the schools were so harsh that more than 4000 students died during ther time in the schools. The overcrowded schools made it difficult for many of the students who did not understand English or were new to the school to get extra lessons or help from the teachers, leading to severe punishment. In the movie, Abraham faced a similar situation as he did not know what the teacher was saying while the students were practicing marching, so along with beating him up with a stick, …show more content…
Numerous students were taken away from their families and placed in an environment where instead of getting nurtured and cared for, they were mistreated and had to become accustomed to a rigid routine. This made them miss out on the knowledge and skills they needed to raise a family, leading to their families having to suffer in various ways, from facing depression to getting addicted to drugs. In the movie, George got arrested as the constant abuse with no mercy forced him to hit his teacher, similar to the way countless victims abused their own children since that was the situation they had grown up in. As the sole purpose of the residential schools had been to force the children to fit into the Canadian society by preventing them from following their culture, those who attended them had not been able to pass on their Aboriginal values to future generations. Students were forced to forget the way they prayed with the mandatory church sessions every morning and could not speak their language due to the abuse they got if they did, thus, making their unertainty of their Aboriginal identity pass down generations. Unlike Amelia, many victims had not been able to retain their traditions and First Nation beliefs, thus, making their culture to slowly dissapear as time goes