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Frequently Asked Questions: Residential Schools, Truth and Reconciliation, and Child Welfare

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Beginning in the 1800s, government-sponsored religious schools were established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Christian-Canadian culture. Children were forcibly removed from their communities and families and placed in boarding schools, where they were punished for speaking their traditional language(s) and practicing their cultural traditions. Many children died in these schools and mental, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse was common. The residential school system is widely acknowledged as a form of genocide because of the purposeful attempt from the government and church to eradicate all aspects of Indigenous cultures.

Unmarked Grave Recoveries

In May 2021, the remains of 215 children were recovered in unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School located near the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation in British Columbia. This led to investigations at other school sites, with the number of unmarked graves totaling 6,509 as of September 15, 2021.

During the 150 years that residential schools operated in Canada, an estimated 150,000 children were forced to attend these schools. The number of children who died is unknown, though the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established in 2008, has the names or other information for more than 4,100 (Source: Missing Children Project ). Indigenous communities estimate the real number to be as high as 25,000 children.

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit residential school students, as well as their families and communities, were, and still are deeply affected by the residential school system. The TRC heard from close to 7,000 witnesses, most of whom were residential school survivors. You can hear some of their stories from the Legacy of Hope Foundation .

Day Scholars Settlement

In June 2021, the Government of Canada reached a settlement agreement with Day Scholars — students who attended Indian Residential Schools during the day but returned home at night. The settlement agreement includes compensation for former students and investments toward healing and commemoration. Learn more here or here .

The last federally-run residential school, Kivalliq Hall in Nunavut, shut its doors in 1997. The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement , the class-action settlement between legal counsel for former students, legal counsel for the Churches, the Assembly of First Nations, other Indigenous organizations, and the Government of Canada was approved in 2006 and was implemented starting in 2007. The Agreement included compensation for former students, measures to support healing, commemorative activities, and the establishment of the TRC. On June 11, 2008, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, made a statement of apology on behalf of the Government of Canada to former residential school students. According to a 2021 report , the Canadian government paid more than $3 billion in compensation to residential school survivors.

The Sixties Scoop refers to the large-scale removal of Indigenous children by child welfare authorities from their homes, communities, and birth families through the 1960s to 1980s, and their subsequent adoption into predominantly non-Indigenous families across Canada and the world. From 1965 to 1984, as many as 16,000 Indigenous children were placed in non-Indigenous homes, often without the consent or knowledge of their families and communities.

The widespread removal of First Nation, Métis, and Inuit children and youth from their homes was connected to historical systemic and individual anti-Indigenous racism, the ignorance of child welfare workers of Indigenous customs and traditions, as well as socio-economic conditions on reserves, such as poverty, addictions, and unemployment, caused by the legacies of residential schools and colonization. Efforts to keep children and youth connected to their birth families, including their siblings, or communities and to support reunification were rarely, if ever, made.

experience left many First Nation, Métis, and Inuit children and youth with a lost sense of cultural identity and belonging. The trauma stemming from the physical and emotional separation from their birth families continues to have a profound impact on those who were part of the Sixties Scoop and their communities.

In 1985, Justice Edwin Kimelman’s review of Indigenous child apprehension in Manitoba called No Quiet Place: Review Committee on Indian and Métis Adoptions and Placements stated “that cultural genocide has been taking place in a systematic, routine manner.”

In October 2017, the Sixties Scoop class action lawsuit was finalized. The agreement requires the federal government to pay between $500 and $800 million in restitution to Indigenous peoples who lost their cultural identities when they were removed from their families and communities during the Sixties Scoop.

What is Systemic Racism?

“Racism is an imposed system of structures, values and processes that serve to advantage one group over another. Race is a socially constructed way of categorizing humans based on physical characteristics and placing these categories within a hierarchy that suggests an inherent inferiority or superiority between different racial groups. In this way, racism continues to reinforce the concept of race. This hierarchy has no scientific validity and finds its genesis at a time when dehumanization was a strategy to advance imperial, patriarchal, heterosexist and settler-colonial interests through dispossession, enslavement, genocide and oppression.” – CAMH

Systemic racism involves discriminatory treatment, unfair policies and practices, and unequal opportunities within organizations that result in inequitable outcomes for those who are Black, Indigenous, and racialized. An organization’s policies and practices can appear to be neutral but end up creating advantages for those who fall within a White, Eurocentric racial group and disadvantages for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and racialized.

It is commonly recognized that the history of child welfare in Canada began with J.J. Kelso — often referred to as the founding father of child protection work — in the 1880s in the city of Toronto. Child welfare emerged at a time when the Canadian settler colony was seeking to establish itself politically, economically, and culturally. Across the British Empire, including the Canadian settler colony, it became a truism of the time that children are the future of the nation . However, only certain children — namely low-income white settler children — were deemed worthy of saving from cruelty and neglect. The central concern of child rescue initiatives was preserving the dominance of the White race and ensuring lower-class white settlers did not sink to the level of the “savage Indians” (Source: Landertinger, 2017; Swain 2009). The child welfare system and the Indian residential school system emerged as two separate and distinct solutions for these respective child populations.

From the earliest stages of child welfare development, Kelso and others agreed that for white settler children “child saving efforts should never be directed to institutional life, but to that normal arrangement which keeps the child in the family relation,” as it was well understood that institutionalization was a harmful practice (Source: Landertinger, 2017). And yet, simultaneously, Indigenous children were being institutionalized in droves. At the very same time that cruelty and neglect towards white settler children became a punishable crime, Indigenous children were subjected to unfathomable violence and cruelty by the settler society.

When attendance at residential schools was no longer compulsory and child welfare services were downloaded to the provinces in the 1950s and 1960s, the rate of Indigenous child apprehensions across Canada increased exponentially. Indigenous children were now eligible to access the child protection services previously only available to white children. This “more equal care” resulted in the policies and practices of the Sixties Scoop, that led to the removal of thousands of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children from their homes, families, and communities. This is why child welfare is often considered the successor of the residential school system.

We know that Indigenous children are significantly overrepresented in the child welfare system today. In Canada in 2016, Indigenous children accounted for just 7.7% of the child population but made up 52.2% of children in foster care (Source: Census 2016 ). In 2018, a report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Interrupted Childhoods , showed that the proportion of Indigenous children admitted into care was 2.6 times higher than their proportion in the child population. The reasons for this reality are complex, but are connected to colonization, systemic and individual anti-Indigenous racism, and the intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools and the Sixties Scoop.

As a result of the ongoing racial discrimination and systemic oppression faced by Indigenous families and communities, they are more likely to experience poverty, addictions, and unemployment, as well as lack access to critical services and basic infrastructure, like safe housing and clean drinking water. These factors contribute to the higher rates of involvement of child welfare.

The current overrepresentation of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children and youth in the child welfare system is sometimes referred to as the Millennium Scoop.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2008 as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement . Its mandate was to document the truth of survivors, families, communities, and anyone personally affected by the residential school experience. The TRC spent six years travelling across Canada to hear from Indigenous people taken from their families as children and placed in residential schools. In December 2015, the Commission released its six-volume final report which contains 94 Calls to Action —the first five of which are directed at child welfare.

The Commission’s offices are now closed, and its work has been transferred to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation .

In 2017, OACAS apologized for the harmful role child welfare has played historically, and continues to play, in the lives of Ontario Indigenous children, families, and communities. As a sector, we unanimously agreed to 9 Reconciliation Commitments . They are:

  • Reduce the number of Indigenous children in care.
  • Reduce the number of legal files involving Indigenous children and families.
  • Increase the use of formal customary care agreements.
  • Ensure Indigenous representation and involvement at the local Board of Directors.
  • Implement mandatory Indigenous training for staff.
  • Change the inter-agency protocol to include Jordan’s Principle as a fundamental principle
  • In consultation with Indigenous communities, develop a unique agency-based plan to better address the needs of the children and families from those communities.
  • Continue to develop relationships between their local agency and the local Indigenous communities.
  • Assist those individuals wanting to see their historical files by accessing and providing the information they request.

You can learn more about the apology and the event where it took place here .

Ongoing Litigation Against First Nations Child and Family Services

In 2007, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society (Caring Society) made two complaints to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, who later referred the case to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT). They alleged:

  • The government was underfunding First Nations child and family services on reserve. They claimed this systematic underfunding was linked to the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system.
  • The government failed to implement Jordan’s Principle – a rule that pledges to provide First Nations kids with the services they need, when they need them, rather than first taking the time to sort out which level of government is responsible for the cost.

In 2016, the CHRT ruled in favour of the AFN and Caring Society, stating that the Canadian government is racially discriminating against First Nations children. Since then, the Government of Canada has failed to comply with several orders by the CHRT and continues to fight the ruling in court. Learn more about the case here .

Together with our members, OACAS is monitoring and evaluating our progress on the 9 Reconciliation Commitments to ensure improved outcomes and supports for Indigenous children, youth, families, and communities. We acknowledge that there is much left to do, but progress has been made in several areas, including training for child welfare staff, board representation, relationship building with Indigenous communities and partners, increasing the use of customary care, and embedding Jordan’s Principle in service practice and the interagency protocol.

At the provincial level, OACAS is committed to continuing to build our relationship with the Association of Native Child and Family Services Agencies of Ontario (ANCFSAO) and Indigenous stakeholders to ensure we are amplifying their voices and following their lead in this work.

In Ontario, child welfare services are provided at the community level by independent non-profit organizations, funded by the Government of Ontario, called children’s aid societies or Indigenous Child and Family Well-Being Agencies. Ontario’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA) states that First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities have the right to provide their own child and family services where possible. Additionally, in 2020, Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families , was passed by the Government of Canada. This Act affirms the inherent rights of Indigenous communities to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services.

As of September 2022, there are 50 children’s aid societies in Ontario, 13 of which are mandated Indigenous Child and Family Well-Being Agencies. In addition, there are two pre-mandated agencies — these are organizations that are working toward their designation by the provincial government to provide child protection services in their communities. Each Indigenous Child and Family Well-Being Agency provides culturally relevant services to the First Nations they serve, including using their own service models, customary care agreements, and self-governance models. They are focused on honouring the traditions, history, and customs of their communities and providing services that are rooted in their values, principles, and strengths. The Association of Native Child and Family Services Agencies of Ontario (ANCFSAO) supports Indigenous Child and Family Well-Being Agencies across the province to provide high-quality, community-based child welfare and family well-being services.

This year, the Government of Canada passed legislation to make September 30 a federal holiday, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation . “The day honours the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities” and calls for public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools.

Orange Shirt Day is also September 30 and has been celebrated since 2013. It is an Indigenous-led day dedicated to commemorating the residential school experience. It is a day to learn about and discuss the legacy of the system, as well as remember and honour the students who attended residential schools.

Orange Shirt Day was created as part of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Project and Reunion events in Williams Lake, BC. There, Phyllis Webstad told her story of her first day of residential school. She had been gifted a new orange shirt by her grandmother, which she was excited to wear. However, it was immediately taken from her when she got to the school and she never saw it again. This was common practice at residential schools, where children’s personal items were removed, they were often forced to cut their hair, and they were prohibited from speaking their traditional language(s) or practicing their cultural traditions. This was part of the systematic attempt to assimilate First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children into settler society and destroy their connections to their families and communities.

The orange shirt now serves as a symbol of all that Indigenous children and youth lost, but also of hope and healing for the next generation of children and youth. You can learn more about Orange Shirt Day  here .

Residential schools and the Sixties Scoop are a part of Canadians’ shared history. We continue to see the impacts of these systems in the lives of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children, youth, families, and communities. The current child welfare system also continues to harm Indigenous families and communities. Healing and repairing our relationships with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities requires the deliberate and sustained action of dismantling our colonial systems and structures—in child welfare, but also across sectors. Without sustained, proactive, and positive action from settlers, there can be no Reconciliation.

  • The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
  • The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement
  • The Indian Residential School Survivors Society
  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
  • The Sixties Scoop Class Action Lawsuit
  • Ontario Human Rights Commission, Interrupted Childhoods
  • Legacy of Hope Foundation
  • Association of Native Child and Family Services Agencies of Ontario
  • No Quiet Place: Review Committee on Indian and Métis Adoptions and Placements
  • Landertinger, L. (2017). Child Welfare and the Imperial Management of Childhood in Settler Colonial Canada, 1880s-2000s. University of Toronto (Canada).
  • Swain, Shurlee. 2009. “Sweet Childhood Lost: Idealized Images of Childhood in the British Child Rescue Literature.” Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. 2(2).

Former Residential School students can call  1-866-925-4419  for emotional crisis referral services and information on other health supports from the Government of Canada.

Indigenous peoples across Canada can also go to The Hope for Wellness Help Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for counselling and crisis intervention.

Call the toll-free Help Line at  1-855-242-3310  or connect to the  online chat .

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  • Published: 02 March 2017

Residential schools and the effects on Indigenous health and well-being in Canada—a scoping review

  • Piotr Wilk 1 , 2 , 3 ,
  • Alana Maltby 1 &
  • Martin Cooke 4 , 5  

Public Health Reviews volume  38 , Article number:  8 ( 2017 ) Cite this article

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The history of residential schools has been identified as having long lasting and intergenerational effects on the physical and mental well-being of Indigenous populations in Canada. Our objective was to identify the extent and range of research on residential school attendance on specific health outcomes and the populations affected.

A scoping review of the empirical peer-reviewed literature was conducted, following the methodological framework of Arksey and O’Malley (2005). For this review, nine databases were used: Bibliography of Native North Americans, Canadian Health Research Collection, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Indigenous Studies Portal, PubMed, Scopus, Statistics Canada, and Web of Science. Citations that did not focus on health and residential school among a Canadian Indigenous population were excluded. Papers were coded using the following categories: Indigenous identity group, geography, age-sex, residential school attendance, and health status.

Sixty-one articles were selected for inclusion in the review. Most focused on the impacts of residential schooling among First Nations, but some included Métis and Inuit. Physical health outcomes linked to residential schooling included poorer general and self-rated health, increased rates of chronic and infectious diseases. Effects on mental and emotional well-being included mental distress, depression, addictive behaviours and substance mis-use, stress, and suicidal behaviours.

The empirical literature can be seen as further documenting the negative health effects of residential schooling, both among former residential school attendees and subsequent generations. Future empirical research should focus on developing a clearer understanding of the aetiology of these effects, and particularly on identifying the characteristics that lead people and communities to be resilient to them.

The effects of colonization are apparent in all aspects of Indigenous peoples’ health and well-being [ 1 ], affecting not only their physical health, but the mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness [ 2 ]. It is well established that Indigenous peoples in Canada experience a disproportionate burden of ill health compared to the non-Indigenous population [ 3 ]. In large part, these health disparities have been a result of government policies to assimilate Indigenous peoples into the Euro-Canadian ways of life, leading to physical and emotional harms to children, lower educational attainment, loss of culture and language, and the disconnect of family structures [ 4 – 6 ]. Many of the illnesses and conditions that are disproportionately experienced by Indigenous peoples, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, have therefore been attributed to the lasting effects of colonialism, including the Indian Act, the reserve system, and residential schooling [ 7 ]. Loppie Reading and Wien [ 8 ] note that colonialism, a distal determinant of health, is the basis on which all other determinants (i.e. intermediate and proximal) are constructed.

Among colonial policies, residential schooling has stood out as especially damaging to Indigenous peoples. The residential school system was intended to eradicate the language, cultural traditions and spiritual beliefs of Indigenous children in order to assimilate them into the Canadian society [ 5 , 6 , 9 , 10 ]. More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children attended the church-run schools between their establishment in the 1870s and the closure of the last school in the mid-1990s [ 11 ]. As admitted by government and church officials, the explicit purpose of the residential school system was “to civilize and Christianize Aboriginal children” [ 10 ]. In addition to the cultural and social effects of being forcibly displaced, many children suffered physical, sexual, psychological, and/or spiritual abuse while attending the schools, which has had enduring effects including, health problems, substance abuse, mortality/suicide rates, criminal activity, and disintegration of families and communities [ 5 ]. Moreover, many of the residential schools were severely underfunded, providing poor nutrition and living conditions for children in their care, leading to illness and death [ 5 ].

These attempts of forced assimilation have failed, in part due to the resilience and resistance of many Indigenous communities [ 12 ]. Nonetheless, it is apparent that they have had profound effects “at every level of experience from individual identity and mental health, to the structure and integrity of families, communities, bands and nations” [ 6 ]. The concept of historical trauma suggests that the effects of these disruptive historical events are collective, affecting not only individual Survivors, but also their families and communities [ 13 , 14 ]. According to Kirmayer, Gone, and Moses, historical trauma provides a way to conceptualize the transgenerational effects of residential schooling, whereby “traumatic events endured by communities negatively impact on individual lives in ways that result in future problems for their descendants” [ 14 ]. Recent findings suggest that the effects of the residential school system are indeed intergenerational, with children of attendees demonstrating poorer health status than children of non-attendees [ 9 ]. In fact, families in which multiple generations attend residential schools have been found to have greater distress than those in which only one generation attended [ 9 ]. Although this provides important evidence of the role of residential schooling in the current health and social conditions of Indigenous peoples, the links in the causal chain are not well understood, and there are many potential intermediate factors between residential school attendance and its effects on subsequent generations [ 14 ].

The consequences of residential schooling for Indigenous peoples in Canada have been known for some time, having been documented by the accounts of former attendees [ 15 , 16 ]. These effects parallel experiences in the USA and Australia, where boarding or residential schools were also a key tool of assimilation [ 17 ]. In its final report, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada made 94 “calls to action” to redress the legacy of residential schools [ 18 ]. Among those related to health, the TRC admonished federal, provincial and territorial levels of government to acknowledge the effects of Canadian government policies (e.g. residential schools) and, working together with Indigenous peoples, to identify and close the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in health outcomes [ 18 ]. Although there have been some empirical studies of the effects of residential schooling on Indigenous peoples’ health, there has been no previous attempt to synthesize the evidence of these effects. The purpose of this scoping review is therefore to describe the current state of the literature regarding residential school attendance and the health and well-being of Indigenous people in Canada. In particular we ask; what are the health outcomes that have been empirically linked to residential schooling, what are the populations in which these effects have been identified, and whether effects are found among Survivors or also among other family members and subsequent generations. By summarizing the current literature and identifying needs for further research, this effort can contribute to our understanding of the effects of residential schooling on the health and wellness of Indigenous peoples.

Search strategies

The scoping review process for this paper was informed by Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework for scoping studies [ 19 ]. A scoping review is an approach used to map the existing literature on a particular general topic in order to understand the overall state of knowledge in an area [ 19 ]. Scoping studies therefore typically have broad research questions and focus on summarizing the available evidence [ 20 ]. According to Armstrong and colleagues, a scoping review also differs from a systematic review in that the inclusion/exclusion criteria can be developed in an iterative process, the quality of studies might not be discussed in the review, and that the synthesis tends to be more qualitative in nature with the review used to identify parameters and gaps in a body of literature rather than coming to a conclusion about the evidence for a specific effect or effects [ 21 ]. Although a scoping review may not describe research findings in detail, it provides a way of navigating the area of research where the range of material is uncertain [ 19 ]. Arksey and O’Malley suggest five stages in conducting a scoping review: (1) identifying the research question, (2) identifying relevant studies, (3) study selection, (4) charting the data, and (5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results [ 19 ]. These five stages were used to inform and guide the current literature review. The intent of this scoping review was to assess the extent and range of empirical research examining residential schooling and health outcomes among Indigenous peoples. This broad research question was established at the outset and was used to guide the subsequent stages of the review. In order to identify relevant literature, we conducted a search of nine electronic databases: Bibliography of Native North Americans, Canadian Health Research Collection, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Indigenous Studies Portal, PubMed, Scopus, Statistic Canada, and Web of Science. The search strategy and search terms were developed with the assistance of an academic librarian who specializes in First Nations studies. Broad search terms were used within these databases and are documented in Table  1 .

The search results were downloaded into the reference management software Endnote (Endnote X7, Thomson Reuters, 2014), from which duplicates were removed. Inclusion was determined using the following criteria: (a) English-language source (or translated abstract), (b) analysis using primary or secondary data, (c) focus on an Indigenous population in Canada (e.g., First Nations, Inuit, Métis), and (d) focuses on residential school attendance and its relation to health. Grey literature addressing residential school attendance and health were also sought out to provide additional support, including government or organization reports, commentaries, or news bulletins.

Selecting the articles for inclusion was completed in two steps. In the first stage, two reviewers screened titles and abstracts and citations that did not meet the inclusion criteria were removed. If the reviewers were unsure about the relevancy of an abstract, the full text of the article was retrieved and reviewed. At the second stage, the full texts of the articles were reviewed for final inclusion. The bibliographies of the full articles were hand-searched to identify further relevant references. Systematic or scoping reviews were not included in this scoping review; however, their reference lists were reviewed for pertinent references. A detailed chart depicting the search results is provided (Fig.  1 ). Following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework [ 19 ], a spreadsheet was created to chart the relevant data that is pertinent to the research question. The papers selected for inclusion were coded following similar categories used by Wilson and Young [ 22 ] and Young [ 23 ] in their reviews of Indigenous health research. The categories used includes: Indigenous identity group, geographic location, age-sex, residential school attendance, and health status. A description of each category is provided below. Data extraction was carried out by one of the researchers in an Excel database and was verified by another team member.

Scoping review search results

Classification categories

Studies were classified according to the health outcomes examined, the Indigenous population affected, the geographic location of the study, and the age and sex/gender categories included in the study, and the type of residential schooling effect investigated.

Health outcomes

Although we distinguish specific types of health outcomes resulting from personal experiences and the intergenerational impacts of residential schooling, it is important to acknowledge that these outcomes do not occur independently, but exist in complex relationships with other effects [ 24 ]. The consequences of residential schools are wide-reaching and, according to Stout and Peters [ 24 ], may include, “medical and psychosomatic conditions, mental health issues and post traumatic stress disorder, cultural effects such as changes to spiritual practices, diminishment of languages and traditional knowledge, social effects such as violence, suicide, and effects on gender roles, childrearing, and family relationships”. Social, cultural, and spiritual effects of residential schools are often associated with physical, mental, and emotional health [ 24 ]. For the purposes of categorizing the types of outcomes described in the studies reviewed, it was necessary to impose somewhat arbitrary categories of physical health, mental health and emotional well-being, and general health, as described below.

Physical health: Health conditions may include arthritis, chronic back pain, rheumatism, osteoporosis, asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, allergies, cataracts, glaucoma, blindness or serious vision problems that could not be corrected with glasses, epilepsy, cognitive or mental disability, heart disease, high blood pressure, effects of stroke (brain hemorrhage), thyroid problems, cancer, liver disease (excluding hepatitis), stomach or intestinal problems, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis, or diabetes [ 25 ].

Mental health/emotional well-being: Mental health issues may include depression, anxiety, substance abuse (e.g. drugs or alcohol), paranoia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sexual dysfunction, personality disorders, stress, effects on interpersonal relationships, psychological or nervous disorders, and attention deficit disorder/attention disability. In addition, for the purposes of this review, suicide and suicide attempts or thoughts were also classified with mental health.

General health: A category related to general overall health was also included for papers that did not make references to a specific health outcome.

Indigenous identity group

Populations were also classified as either referring to a single Indigenous identity (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit) or a combination of identities (a combination of two single identity groups, or Indigenous and non-Indigenous identities).

Geographic location

For this review, we examined two aspects of geography. Firstly, we determined if the studies referred to Indigenous populations living on First Nations reserves, Footnote 1 Northern communities, non-reserve rural areas, or in urban areas. Secondly, we identified the province or territory of focus in the paper.

Age-sex/gender categories

The health outcomes associated with residential school attendance might be different for men and women, or boys and girls. Studies were categorized by the age range and sex/gender of the participants.

Residential school attendance

Residential school attendance was classified as either personal attendance or familial attendance (i.e. parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles).

Characteristics of the included studies

As depicted in Fig.  1 , 61 studies were found that discussed residential schools in Canada and the health effects among Survivors, their families, or communities. The details of each study included in the review were provided in a chart and can be found in Table  2 . The majority of papers were published in 2000 and later, with the exception of one published in 1999. Their sample sizes ranged from 1 to 51,080 and involved children, youth, and adults. Often, studies included men and women, various Indigenous identities, several geographic locations, and personal and familial residential school attendance.

The majority of studies, 43, included First Nations. Eighteen studies involved Inuit and 17 included Métis. In 11, the population was identified as “Aboriginal” or “Indigenous” and did not distinguish between First Nations, Inuit, or Métis. Three studies also included “Other” Indigenous populations that were not further defined, two included multiple identities, one undisclosed identity, and two included non-Canadian Indigenous populations (Sami, American Indian).

A total of 14 studies were conducted using national level Canadian data. Seven studies focused on Atlantic Canada; two were conducted in Newfoundland, one in Nova Scotia, one in New Brunswick, and two in the Atlantic region. Six studies were conducted in Quebec, ten studies took place in Ontario, and one in Central Canada. In Western Canada, eight studies took place in Manitoba, eight in Saskatchewan, ten in Alberta, 13 in British Columbia, one in the prairies, and three in Western Canada. Additionally, a few studies were conducted in the territories, with two taking place in the Northwest Territories, and six in Nunavut. Two studies did not specify a geographic location and two were conducted in the USA.

Twenty-four studies considered Indigenous peoples living on-reserve, while 23 involved those living off-reserve. Study participants living off-reserve can be further categorized as living in rural or remote areas, northern communities, or urban areas. Seventeen studies indicated that their participants were from a rural or remote location, 14 included participants in northern communities, and 24 focused on urban populations.

Age-sex/gender

Both males and females were represented in the research with 48 studies including both men and women. Five studies included only women, and one solely looked at males. Also, one study included participants who are transgender, one study indicated “other”, and three did not provide a description of the participants’ sex or gender. Regarding age, 46 studies included individuals over the age of 18, whereas 15 included children and youth under the age of 18. Nine studies did not include information on the age of participants.

In terms of residential school attendance, 42 of the studies reviewed included residential school attendees themselves (personal attendance) and 38 examined the effects of having a parent or other family members who had attended (familial attendance). Four studies did not indicate who had attended residential school.

General health : It is evident from the results of this review that personal or familial (e.g. parental or grandparental) residential school attendance is related to health in a multitude of ways. Twelve papers used self-reported health or general quality of life as an outcome measure and found that people who had attended residential schools generally felt as though their health or quality of life had been negatively impacted. Using Statistics Canada’s 2001 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS), Wilson and colleagues found that those who had attended residential schools had poorer overall self-rated health than those who did not attend [ 26 ], a finding that was reproduced with the 2006 APS by Kaspar [ 27 ], who found that 12% of those who had attended residential school reported poor health, compared with 7% of those who did not attend. While this may be attributed to other factors such as aging within the population, the role of residential schools cannot be dismissed [ 26 ]. Hackett et al. found that familial attendance at residential school was associated with lower likelihood of reporting excellent perceived health, even after controlling for covariates such as health behaviours, issues with food security and/or housing [ 28 ] However, while the studies reveal negative effects in relation to the residential school system, this cannot be said for everyone who attended. For example, some studies have found better overall reported health among those with family members who attended (see, e.g. Feir [ 29 ]). Physical health : Physical health problems, namely chronic health conditions and infectious diseases, were also apparent in the literature. Thirteen papers related specific physical health conditions to residential school attendance. These included conditions such as HIV/AIDS, chronic conditions (e.g. diabetes, obesity), tuberculosis (TB), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), chronic headaches, arthritis, allergies, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In a study by Ghosh [ 30 ], participants stated that their experiences at residential school impacted their diets through the higher consumption of carbohydrates, a factor the authors relate to the higher rates of diabetes among this population today. Howard [ 31 ] found similar results and suggested that residential schooling contributed to the urbanization of Indigenous peoples in Canada, which has led to diabetes and other problems. Dyck and colleagues also reported that those who attended residential school had a slightly higher prevalence of diabetes than those who did not, although the finding was not statistically significant [ 32 ]. Residential school attendance has also been found to be a positive predictor of obesity among younger Métis boys and girls, but a negative predictor among older girls [ 33 ]. In addition to chronic conditions, residential school attendance has been associated with poorer sexual health in general [ 34 , 35 ], infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and STIs [ 36 ] and has been identified as an independent risk factor for HCV [ 37 ]. Corrado and Cohen found that many First Nations people who had personally attended residential schools reported suffering from physical ailments including, chronic headaches, heart problems, and arthritis [ 5 ].

Mental health and emotional well-being : Mental health, and particularly emotional well-being, was the area of health most commonly identified as affected by residential school attendance. Forty-three studies reviewed found that personal or intergenerational residential school attendance was related to mental health issues such as mental distress, depression, addictive behaviours and substance misuse, stress, and suicidal behaviours. For example, Walls and Whitbeck [ 38 ] noted that early lifetime stressors such as residential school attendance are negatively associated with mental health among adults. Corrado and Cohen [ 5 ] found that among 127 residential school Survivors, all but two suffered from mental health issues such as PTSD, substance abuse disorder, major depression, and dysthymic disorder. These authors suggest that residential school leads to a specific combination of effects a—“Residential School Syndrome”. Anderson [ 39 ] found that residential school attendance among Inuit men was related to mental distress. Familial residential school attendance has been associated with lower self-perceived mental health and a higher risk of distress and suicidal behaviours [ 28 ]. Intergenerational effects were found by Stout [ 40 ] among women who had parents or grandparents attend residential schools, with women reporting that familial attendance at residential school had had an enduring impact on their lives and mental health.

Substance abuse and addictive behaviours have also been identified as common among those impacted by residential schools. In a study conducted by Varcoe and Dick [ 36 ], a participant associates her drinking and drug use to the sexual, physical, emotional, and mental abuse experienced at residential school. Similarly, co-researchers (research participants) in two studies explained their addiction to drugs and alcohol as a “coping mechanism” [ 44 , 54 ].

Suicide and suicidal thoughts and attempts were associated with personal and familial residential school attendance in several papers. Elias and colleagues [ 41 ] found that residential school attendees who suffered abuse were more likely to have a history of suicide attempts or thoughts. Furthermore, non-attendees who had a history of abuse were more likely to report having familial residential school attendance, suggesting that residential schooling might be important in the perpetuation of a cycle of victimization. Youth (12–17 years) participating in the on-reserve First Nations Regional Health Survey who had at least one parent who attended residential school reported increased suicidal thoughts compared to those without a parent that attended [ 42 ].

This review aimed to summarize the current literature on residential schools and Indigenous health and well-being using Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review framework [ 19 ]. In general, the empirical literature further documented the wide ranging negative effects of residential schools that had previously been identified by Survivors themselves [ 15 ] and confirmed that residential schooling is likely an important contributor to the current health conditions of Indigenous populations in Canada. The studies included revealed a range of poorer physical, mental and emotional, and general health outcomes in both residential school attendees and their families compared with those without these experiences. This included evidence of poorer general health, higher risk of chronic conditions such as diabetes, as well as infectious diseases such as STIs. Many of the studies related residential schooling to poorer mental health, including depressions and substance misuse. Although the majority of studies focused on First Nations, various effects were observed among Métis and Inuit as well, and in urban, rural and reserve populations, and in all regions, strongly suggesting that the effects of residential schooling are felt by Indigenous peoples across Canada. The regional and historical variations in the implementation of residential schooling [ 10 ] would lead us to expect geographic variability in these effects. While only one study reviewed examined these differences, it is indicated that variation in health status among community members may be related to various colonial histories in different areas [ 43 ]. Importantly, given the vast consequences and predominately negative impact of attendance at these schools, the literature reviewed suggests that younger generations continue to experience the negative health consequences associated with residential schooling. Some of the papers were able to identify specific intergenerational effects, including higher risk of negative outcomes for those whose parents or grandparents attended, whether they themselves were residential school Survivors [ 9 ]. Others only considered whether family members had attended, suggesting that the effects are clustered within families, rather than isolating the intergenerational transmission of trauma related to residential schooling.

Overall, the newness of the literature indicates that this is a recent and growing area of research. One of the likely consequences of this is that much of the research reviewed was correlational, and few studies explicitly examined the mechanisms that connected residential school experience to health outcomes. Although some of the studies examining mental health identified substance use resulting from a need to cope with psychological pain [ 44 , 45 , 54 ] or to provide individuals with feelings of regaining power and control [ 45 ], most of the studies of physical health effects or general health did not attempt to unpack the range of proximate and mediating factors in the causal chain between residential schooling and the health of Survivors or of their family members.

A strength of this review is that it was conducted systematically and provides methodological accounts to ensure the transparency of the findings. Additionally, the findings of this research highlight the extent and range of the available literature on this important topic in health and suggest areas that require further research. It is important to acknowledge its limitations, however. Firstly, while a scoping review provides a rapid summary of a range of literature, it does not include an appraisal of the quality of the studies included nor provide a synthesis of the data. Secondly, the inclusion of studies is determined by the reviewer’s interpretation of the literature and therefore may be more subjective in nature.

Implications

The lasting effects of residential schooling on the current Indigenous population are complicated and stretch through time and across generations. It is clear, though, that our understanding of the factors that affect Indigenous peoples’ health should include both the effects of “early, colonization-specific” experiences [ 27 ] as well as the more proximate factors, including socioeconomic disadvantages and community conditions [ 27 ]. Although this complexity and the impact of colonial policies and practices, such as residential schooling, on other determinants, such as income, education, and housing has been noted [ 8 ], there is a need to establish a more comprehensive understanding of the implications of this historical trauma, and particularly of the mechanisms by which intergenerational trauma continues to affect Indigenous peoples’ well-being, including the enduring effects across generations [ 46 ].

This would include more research that examines how the effects of residential schooling are mediated or moderated by other social and cultural determinants. For example, the use of ecological frameworks would help researchers and health professionals gain a deeper understanding of how the various levels of context in which the high rates of diseases such as obesity and diabetes have developed have themselves been shaped by colonial policies and by residential schooling in particular. Although isolating the effects of residential schooling on health is important, future empirical analysis should also examine the possible cumulative effects of stressors and traumas, and how these might contribute to the continuing difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples’ health status [ 46 ].

Conclusions

The findings from this scoping review highlight the importance of considering government policies and historical context as critical to understanding the contemporary health and well-being of Indigenous peoples. As Kirmayer, Tait and Simpson [ 47 ] note, this includes other colonial policies, forms of cultural oppression, loss of autonomy, and disruption of traditional life, as well as residential schooling. Better knowledge of how the effects of these historically traumatic events continue to affect communities and individuals may help inform both population health interventions and the care and treatment of individuals. Moreover, identifying the characteristics and conditions of those individuals and communities who have been resilient to the effects of residential schooling may contribute to promoting appropriate supports to limit the transmission of these effects.

In Canada, “Reserves” are parcels of Crown land set aside for use by particular First Nations communities.

Abbreviations

Hepatitis C virus

Injection drug user

Post traumatic stress disorder

Sexually transmitted infections

Tuberculosis

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Courtney Waugh, who reviewed our search strategy and recommended valuable databases to use in our scoping review. Additionally, the authors would also like to acknowledge the valuable feedback and comments provided by the members of Indigenous organizations and communities: The Indigenous members did not wish to be identified.

Funding for this manuscript was provided by The Western Libraries Open Access Fund. AM and PW are also funded by the Children's Health Foundation through the Children's Heart Health grant.

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AM conducted the database searches. PW and AM reviewed the abstracts and extracted relevant information from included studies. All authors contributed to writing and editing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

Piotr Wilk & Alana Maltby

Department of Paediatrics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

Children’s Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada

Department of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Martin Cooke

School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Wilk, P., Maltby, A. & Cooke, M. Residential schools and the effects on Indigenous health and well-being in Canada—a scoping review. Public Health Rev 38 , 8 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40985-017-0055-6

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Resistance and Residential Schools

Article by Crystal Gail Fraser

Published Online May 6, 2020

Last Edited May 6, 2020

Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools that many Indigenous children were forced to attend. They were established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. Indigenous parents and children did not simply accept the residential-school system. Indigenous peoples fought against – and engaged with – the state, schools and other key players in the system. For the duration of the residential-school era, parents acted in the best interests of their children and communities. The children responded in ways that would allow them to survive.

Credit: M. Meikle / Library and Archives Canada / PA-101771

Resistance at Residential Schools

Children responded to being removed from their families and institutionalized at residential schools in several different ways. Many resisted by simply being children: despite facing austere conditions, a number of them remained playful, sometimes making their school supervisors the centres of their jokes. Some students gave their supervisors and teachers unsavoury nicknames in the Indigenous languages of their communities.

Former student Augie Merasty recalls that during the late 1930s at St. Therese Residential School (also known as Guy Indian Residential School), in Saskatchewan , “as usual, we were forever conjuring up something dangerous or harmful on the platform where she [the Nun] always sat on her chair with her ever-watchful eyes… We stuck the tacks through her carpet cushion with the points up to make sure at least some would penetrate as she set her heavy butt on the chair.”

Other forms of misbehaviour – such as vandalism, breaking the rules and starting food fights – were common. Petty crime was a concern for school administrators, but children also engaged in more serious offences, such as arson. Some students thought acting in this way would prompt the principal to expel them from the school, meaning they would be sent home to their families.

Friendship as Resistance

When they arrived at residential school, Indigenous children were often segregated – first by religious denomination, then by gender and by age. Because of this, siblings were often separated from one another. Having been removed from their homes and families, they found institutional life extremely lonely. But many children made strong friendships with others in residential school. Older children protected younger ones; they counselled young girls about their first periods and stole food to make sure no one went to sleep hungry.

Though intimate relationships between students were strictly forbidden at the schools, some older children found private moments and spaces to pursue them. They devised plans to communicate with their partners, such as leaving notes in secret places (Bibles, for example), stealing supervisors’ walkie-talkies or sneaking into the dormitory of an intimate partner. During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s national events, many Survivors beamed when they were reunited with old friends, comrades and lovers whom they met while institutionalized together at residential school.

Culture as Resistance

A key goal of the residential-school system was to eradicate Indigenous cultures. In many instances, the schools and their staff successfully did so. There were small groups of students, however, who continued to practise their cultures while institutionalized in an effort to resist assimilation. Speaking one’s Indigenous language was one way to resist; most children took great care to speak their languages only in secret, since they were often punished with physical violence when caught.  

“My friends and I hid ourselves behind the buildings and spoke Loucheux. Since I was at school for such a short time, I did not forget Loucheux, but many of the children who stayed at the school longer, did,” recalled Johnny Tetlichi, who hid behind All Saints Indian Residential School, in the Northwest Territories , to speak with his friends in Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik ( see Gwich’in ).

Other students would paint and draw images of their fish camps along the water and tipis on the Plains as a way to maintain the visibility of their cultures ( see   Plains Indigenous Peoples in Canada ). Some schools taught children how to tan deer and moose hides. Much of this curriculum was introduced because of vocal Indigenous parents. Girls and young women enjoyed sewing and beading according to the customs their mothers had taught them. In the  North , where southern garments were not warm enough for the region’s long and frigid winters, school administrators allowed students to wear their  parkas , fur garments and  mukluks (  see   Arctic Indigenous Peoples in Canada ).

Running Away from Residential School

As a last resort, some children escaped the oppressive environment of residential schools. By fleeing, they were responding to their poor living conditions in a very physical and visceral way. Sometimes, if they made it home or to a relative’s house, their family returned them to school out of fear of retribution from local Indian Agents . Other children were found by principals, missionaries or Indian Agents.

But there were still others who, while trying to protect themselves, met unfortunate endings. Eleven-year-old Inuvialuit children Bernard Andreason and Lawrence Jack Elanik and 13-year-old Dennis Dick were institutionalized at Stringer Hall in Inuvik , NWT. In 1972, the three boys ran away. They planned to walk from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk , nearly 150 km away. Elanik tragically perished on the way, and Dick’s body was never found. After walking alone for nearly two weeks, Andreason was near starvation and lost consciousness in the bottom of a pingo. He was eventually rescued and flown back to a hospital in Inuvik.

Parental Resistance

Student attendance at residential schools was compulsory according to the Indian Act and other legislation . But Indigenous parents protested the state of their children’s education and living arrangements as much as their children did. Some parents kept their children at home despite the possible consequences of imprisonment, hefty fines or the relinquishment of family allowance payments.

During the early 1920s, Teetł’it Gwich’in Chief Julius Salu’s daughter died at St. Peter’s Indian Residential School, in Hay River , NWT. After deciding that no child from his community, Teetł’it Zheh, would be sent to residential school again, he said, “If anybody is going to jail for this, I’m taking it.” Parents petitioned the federal government and churches to build more day schools in their communities. They also created national political organizations, including what is now the Assembly of First Nations , to represent their interests. Parents shared criticisms of wider issues at public forums, such as the Berger Inquiry ( see Thomas Rodney Berger ), and many of them (as well as many of their children) went on to obtain key positions within the Canadian political system to effect change from the inside.

Significance and Legacy

Indigenous peoples continue to resist the residential-school system in several ways. Some people, for example, have deemed Canadian child-welfare services to be the “new residential school,” and Gitxsan scholar and activist Cindy Blackstock has been working as a tireless advocate for Indigenous children and their parents. Many Survivors are sharing and documenting their stories so that Canadians can better understand Survivors’ experiences and the full influence of the residential-school system. Dozens of memoirs and firsthand accounts of the system are in circulation today ( see  Indian Horse ).

However, systemic racism and inequities remain, and many Indigenous people continue to struggle with lived and intergenerational trauma . Today, brilliant and highly skilled Indigenous leaders, politicians, language teachers, professionals, artists, Knowledge Keepers, Elders and Youth are working to ensure that future generations of Indigenous people will not suffer historical injustices.

Residential Schools Podcast Series

essay questions about residential schools

Further Reading

Merasty, Joseph Auguste with David Carpenter. The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir. Regina: University of Regina Press, 2017. 

Miller, J.R. Shingwauk’s Vision: A History of Native Residential Schools. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996.

Milloy, John. A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986, 2nd Edition. with a foreword by Mary Jane McCallum. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2017.

Associated Collections

Indigenous peoples, recommended, inuit experiences at residential school, métis experiences at residential school, residential schools in canada, residential schools in canada interactive map, indigenous languages in canada.

essay questions about residential schools

Indigenous Arts & Stories

Indian horse, indian act (plain-language summary), richard wagamese, residential schools in canada: history and legacy education guide, indigenous perspectives education guide, key moments in indigenous history timeline, residential schools, pre-contact indigenous cultures, indigenous suffrage.

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  • History of The United States

Residential Schools

Updated 18 August 2023

Subject History of The United States

Downloads 35

Category History

Topic Canada

This paper describes the final paper topic that I have chosen. The topic has deep historical roots and involved both the Canadian government and the churches too. The topic on “how Canadian Indian Residential schools affect the endian community (first nation) and the new generation (first nation)” is important because it helps us to understand the residential schools’ system that shaped the school system that we have today. Also, the topic will provide an insight into the cultures of origin and also the past culture that we may not be so much familiar with today. Therefore, the topic also aims at increasing both our cross-cultural knowledge and understanding.

In addition to that, the topic is important because it helps us to understand how Canada got itself where it is today where the nation is confronting its dark history that involved abuse in the residential schools. In this regard, the topic explains how the schools started, how many existed, what went wrong with the schools, when the calls for compensation of the victims started, the compensation program. Also, the topic looks at the apologies that were made to the various victims of the abuse, and lastly the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission moving forward after the victim compensation. Most importantly, the topic is important because it is not just an issue of the aboriginals but instead concerns everyone in Canada and maybe beyond Canada.

The outline of the Paper

1. Residential schools

a) What were residential schools

b) How many such schools existed

c) Overview of how the schools operated

2. What went wrong with the schools

a) Alleged sexual and physical abuse

b) The calls for compensation of the victims

c) Why there were calls for compensation

3. Compensation programs

a) Compensation amounts

b) Beyond the victims’ compensation

c) The impact of the compensation programs

4. Apologies to the victims

a) Factors leading to the apologies

b) Those who apologized

c) The apologies made and their impact

5. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

a) It's mandate

b) Its success/failures in addressing its mandate

6. Conclusion

Bombay, A., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H. (2014). The intergenerational effects of Indian Residential Schools: Implications for the concept of historical trauma. PubMed, 320 - 338.

Regan, P. (2010). Unsettling the settler within: Indian residential schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in Canada. ubc Press.

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The Impact of Residential Schools on Canadian Children

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Report Helps Answer the Question: Is a College Degree Worth the Cost?

The analysis found that former students at most colleges had an annual income higher than high school graduates a decade after enrollment.

A diploma being swiped through a green device with a clock on it.

By Ann Carrns

Most people go to college to improve their financial prospects, though there are other benefits to attending a postsecondary institution. But as the average cost of a four-year degree has risen to six figures, even at public universities, it can be hard to know if the money is well spent .

A new analysis by HEA Group, a research and consulting firm focused on college access and success, may help answer the question for students and their families. The study compares the median earnings of former college students, 10 years after they enrolled, with basic income benchmarks.

The analysis found that a majority of colleges exceed minimum economic measures for their graduates, like having a typical annual income that is more than that of a high school graduate with no higher education ($32,000, per federal Scorecard data ).

Still, more than 1,000 schools fell short of that threshold, though many of them were for-profit colleges concentrating in short-term credentials rather than traditional four-year degrees.

Seeing whether a college’s former students are earning “reasonable” incomes, said Michael Itzkowitz, HEA Group’s founder and president, can help people weigh whether they want to cross some institutions off their list. Someone deciding between similar colleges, for example, can see the institution that has produced students with significantly higher incomes.

While income isn’t necessarily the only criterion to consider when comparing schools, Mr. Itzkowitz said, “it’s a very good starting point.”

The report used data from the Education Department’s College Scorecard to assess the earnings of about five million former students who had attended about 3,900 institutions of higher education, 10 years after they first enrolled. (The analysis includes data for people who didn’t complete their degree.) The report includes public colleges as well as private nonprofit and for-profit schools; the schools may offer nondegree certificates, associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees.

The analysis found that schools where students earned less than their peers who never attended college were generally those offering nondegree certificates, which can often be completed in 18 months or less, as well as for-profit institutions, although the list also includes some public and private nonprofit schools. At 71 percent of for-profit schools, a majority of students were earning less than high school graduates 10 years after enrolling, compared with 14 percent of public institutions and 9 percent of private nonprofit schools, Mr. Itzkowitz said.

“College is, indeed, worth it,” Mr. Itzkowitz said, but paying for it can be “substantially riskier” depending on the type of school you attend or the credential you seek.

(Another report found that former students of for-profit colleges tend to experience more financial risk than those who attended similarly selective public colleges. Those risks include having to take on more debt for higher education, a greater likelihood of defaulting on student loans and a lower likelihood of finding a job.)

Jason Altmire, president and chief executive of Career Education Colleges and Universities, a trade group representing for-profit career colleges, said lumping together schools offering mainly short-term certificate programs with colleges offering four-year degrees didn’t make sense. People who want to work in certain careers — hairdressing, for instance — generally can’t work in the field unless they earn a certificate, he said.

Mr. Altmire also said that income data from for-profit certificate schools might be skewed by “gender bias” because the programs had a higher proportion of women, who were more likely than men to work part time while raising families, lowering a school’s reported median income.

The HEA report also compared colleges’ performance with other benchmarks, like the federal poverty line ($15,000 annual income for an individual), which is used to determine eligibility for benefits for government programs like subsidized health insurance and Medicaid. Incomes at the “vast majority” of colleges exceeded this cutoff, the report found, although 18 — nearly all of them for-profit schools offering nondegree certificate programs in beauty or hairstyling — had students with median incomes below that threshold.

Majors also matter, since those in science, technology, engineering and nursing typically lead to significantly higher salaries than majors in the arts or humanities. (Last year, HEA published a separate analysis of the college majors that pay the most.)

When comparing the earnings after college, students and families shouldn’t look at the data in a vacuum, said Kristina Dooley, a certified educational planner in Hudson, Ohio. Many schools where former students go on to be top earners have programs focusing on health sciences, technology or business, but that may not be what you want to study.

“Use it as one piece of information,” Ms. Dooley said.

She said that students shouldn’t rule out a college just because it wasn’t at the pinnacle of the income list. Do ask questions, though — like whether its career services office helps with setting up internships and making alumni connections to assist you in finding a good-paying job.

Amy S. Jasper, an independent educational consultant in Richmond, Va., said postgraduate income might matter more to students and families who had to get a loan for college. “How much debt do they want to incur?” she said. “That is something that needs to be taken into consideration.”

But, she said, the benefits of college are not just financial. “I’d like to think that picking the right school is also about becoming a better person and contributing to the world.”

Here are some questions and answers about college costs:

What colleges had the highest median incomes?

Marquee names, like most Ivy League schools, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are heavily represented at the top of HEA’s analysis. Their students had median incomes of at least $90,000 a decade after enrollment. (A handful of for-profit schools, focused on careers like nursing and digital production, can be found there as well.) But the highest-earning colleges on the list? Samuel Merritt University, a nursing and health sciences school in Oakland, Calif., and the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, each with incomes above $129,000. You can see the data on the HEA website .

How much does college cost?

The average estimated “sticker” price for college — the published cost for tuition, fees, housing, meals, books and supplies, transportation and personal items — ranges from about $19,000 a year at a two-year community college to about $28,000 for in-state students at a public four-year university to almost $58,000 at a four-year private college, according to 2022-23 data from the College Board . Some students, however, may pay much less because of financial aid.

Are some college programs required to meet income benchmarks?

A federal “gainful employment” rule , which aims to make career programs more accountable, is scheduled to take effect in July. The new rule, which mostly affects for-profit schools but also applies to certificate programs at all types of colleges, requires schools to show that at least half of their graduates earn more than a typical high school graduate in their state and that their graduates have affordable student loan payments. Colleges that miss either benchmark must alert students that the school could lose access to federal financial aid. Schools that fail the same standard twice in three years will become ineligible for federal aid programs.

A Guide to Making Better Financial Moves

Making sense of your finances can be complicated. the tips below can help..

Credit card debt is rising, and shopping for a card with a lower interest rate can help you save money. Here are some things to know .

Whether you’re looking to make your home more energy-efficient, install solar panels or buy an electric car, this guide can help you save money and fight climate change .

Starting this year, some of the money in 529 college savings accounts can be used for retirement if it’s not needed for education. Here is how it works .

Are you trying to improve your credit profile? You can now choose to have your on-time rent payments reported to the credit bureaus  to enhance your score.

Americans’ credit card debt and late payments are rising, and card interest rates remain high, but many people lack a plan to pay down their debt. Here’s what you can do .

There are few challenges facing students more daunting than paying for college. This guide can help you make sense of it all .

  • The Education Gradebook

Pasco panel votes to restrict LGBTQ+ book of essays to high schools

  • Jeffrey S. Solochek Times staff

A committee of teachers and parents has partially upheld a Pasco County mom’s objection to a book of essays by LGBTQ+ authors, saying it does not belong in district middle schools but declining to remove it from the district altogether.

The panel on Monday recommended allowing “The Letter Q: Queer Writers’ Notes to Their Younger Selves” in high schools, where members said the material would be more age appropriate.

No high schools currently own the book. Lea Mitchell, the district’s Leading and Learning director, said the recommendation would be placed in purchasing guidelines in case any school decides it wants the title in the future.

“This is not saying we are purchasing that book,” Mitchell said.

During Monday’s discussion, opinions about which grades the book would be appropriate for spanned the spectrum.

Pasco High School teacher William Nelson argued it does not belong in schools at all. He pointed to passages such as one essay that described a boy climbing into a sleeping bag with an adult and having a sexual encounter.

“I believe it’s a violation of state law,” Nelson said, urging the others to “err on the side of caution” as state guidelines suggest.

District media specialist Donna Dorilio, by contrast, referred to several professional reviewers who recommended the book as appropriate for all high school ages. “I would like to see it at all the grade levels,” she said.

Gulf Middle School in New Port Richey had the district’s only copy of the book, and it was never checked out.

The group first met on Feb. 26 to discuss the book, which was the subject of Pasco County’s first formal book challenge .

Objector Rebecca Yuengling, a Wesley Chapel parent with connections to Moms for Liberty, urged the panel to keep the book out of all county schools. She argued that it glorifies sex, including recommendations for sex toy websites, and said it violates state law that prohibits pornography in schools.

“It is solely about the laws that we the people want enforced in schools with our children, our most precious gifts,” Yuengling told the group. “I don’t see the pedagogical purpose of this.”

During that committee discussion, it quickly became clear that a majority of members had concerns about the content. Four said they believed it contained prohibited “pornography” and seven agreed it included “sexual conduct” that required further review.

“Yes, it does have that,” said Dorilio, the media specialist. “At the same time, it’s not explicit. It’s not the focus of the book. I don’t feel it’s harmful to minors.”

Dorilio contended the essays had literary merit, particularly for LGBTQ+ readers.

“The authors tell readers not to lose hope, never give up,” she said. “It’s a really inspiring message.”

Nelson, the Pasco High teacher, countered that if “The Letter Q” were only inspiring words, it would be a welcome addition to the library collection. But he argued the book’s explicit passages make it “damaging to minors.”

“I would not want anyone, especially an LGBT member, to read this and think this is normal,” he said. “They don’t need adults to put this into their head.”

Gulf Middle principal Amy Riddle said she saw both sides of the debate.

“I don’t think this is appropriate for middle school students,” Riddle said. “But I do agree there was some hope in there for some people.”

Riddle said Monday she would abide by the committee’s recommendation.

Parent Denise Nicholas reminded the committee that it should keep in mind that parents have the right to control their children’s access to books in the schools already. With that ability in place, she said, it seemed unnecessary to remove access for everyone.

The committee did not vote at that meeting. Mitchell, the Leading and Learning director, said she wanted to give members time to ponder all that had been said, along with the relevant laws, before rendering a decision.

Removing books from a school “is a drastic option” that requires thoughtful deliberation, Mitchell explained.

If Yuengling disagrees with the outcome, she may appeal to Superintendent Kurt Browning. According to district policy, Browning can either review the appeal request and make his own ruling on the book or decline to take up the issue.

If he chooses not to review the appeal, Yuengling would be able to take her case to the school board for its input.

Yuengling said via text message that she did not agree with the committee decision. She questioned the wisdom of the majority’s willingness to allow “a book with an 18+ sex toy website, along with a website where children can date and talk to adults” in front of children as young as 14 years old.

“After all,” Yuengling said, “they are the experts on appropriate content.”

Still, she signaled that she did not expect to appeal to Browning. It “would be moot, as he appointed everyone on this committee,” she said.

Jeffrey S. Solochek is an education reporter covering K-12 education policy and schools. Reach him at [email protected].

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