Yesterday (1996), an important event occurred when the last residential school closed. They ultimately closed the residential schools that the Canadian government believed would benefit the education of Canada's indigenous children. Approximately 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend schools. The Government of Canada developed a policy whereby Indigenous children were to be educated in government-funded industrial schools, called residential schools. The government believed that children were easier to mold than adults, and so boarding school was the best way to help them live in mainstream society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Attendance at residential schools was restricted to children from communities that did not have a day school. Agents were paid by the government for each indigenous child in school. Initially, approximately 1,100 students attended 69 schools across Canada. There were a total of about 130 schools in each territory and province, but Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick did not approve these schools. Residential schools were created on the premise that indigenous people were incapable of adapting to a modernizing society. It was once said that Aboriginal children could succeed if they became part of mainstream Canadian society by adopting Christianity and speaking English and French. Over the years, students lived in unhealthy conditions and were exposed to physical and emotional abuse. Some children were also victims of sexual abuse. Students who remained in residential schools did not have the opportunity to see examples of normal family life. Most had been at school for 10 or 12 months, away from their parents. When students returned to their reserves, they often felt like they didn't belong there. They had no skills to help their parents and began to feel ashamed of their native heritage. Assimilation was devastating to all the people who were subjected to years of abuse. so let's hope that in the near future the government and the Prime Minister will not repeat the past and can move to the present.