Collective punishment in residential schools did more than punish children—it shattered the bonds between parents and children. For many parents who survived, the fear, shame, and trauma they endured complicated their ability to nurture trust in their own parenting.
Emotional disconnection and disrupted parenting
Adults who attended residential schools often struggle to form secure attachments with their children. Many report difficulty expressing love, warmth, or affection—sometimes gravitating toward either overly permissive or harsh, punitive parenting—because they never experienced responsive care themselves.
Source: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Final Report, Volume 5
Increased psychological distress among descendants
Offspring of survivors report significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress than those without residential school family histories. A national study found that youth with one parent who attended residential school scored 22.4 on average on psychological distress measures, compared to 16.7 among youth with no familial attendance.
Source: First Nations Regional Health Survey, 2008/10
Family separation and child welfare system involvement
Youth whose parents or grandparents attended residential schools are statistically more likely to be removed from their families and placed into the child welfare system. This continuation of institutional separation undermines trust in both state and school systems.
Source: National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health, “The Legacy of Residential Schools”
Epigenetic echoes of trauma
Emerging research in neurobiology and epigenetics shows that trauma can become biologically embedded, altering stress responses in the next generation. These inherited stress patterns may amplify children’s vulnerability to authoritarian discipline and perceived threat.
Source: Bombay, Matheson, & Anisman (2014), Transgenerational trauma: The role of epigenetics
Implications for reconciliation and school discipline
When collective punishment reappears in public schools—especially those with Indigenous students—it does more than discipline. It reactivates the emotional legacy of colonial schooling, retraumatises families, and erodes the fragile trust needed for genuine reconciliation.
Real reconciliation requires:
- the abolition of collective punishment in all school settings
- public acknowledgement of past and present harms
- policies co-developed with Indigenous communities to centre healing, cultural safety, and dignity
If we do not change these patterns, we are not reconciling. We are repeating.
