Unthinkable discovery in Canada as remains of 215 children found buried near residential school

Please don't ignore this news article. 

By Paula Newton, CNN

Updated 8:34 PM ET, Fri May 28, 2021

The former Kamloops Indian Residential School on Thursday, May 27, in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The remains of 215 children have been found buried on school's grounds, which closed in 1978.

The gruesome discovery took decades and for some survivors of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada, the confirmation that children as young as 3 were buried on school grounds crystallizes the sorrow they have carried all their lives.

"I lost my heart, it was so much hurt and pain to finally hear, for the outside world, to finally hear what we assumed was happening there," said Harvey McLeod, who attended the school for two years in the late 1960s, in a telephone interview with CNN Friday.

"The story is so unreal, that yesterday it became real for a lot of us in this community," he said.

The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc community in the southern interior of British Columbia, where the school was located, released a statement late Thursday saying an "unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented" was confirmed.

Canada vowed to protect its Indigenous women. But they are still being blamed for their own deaths

"This past weekend, with the help of a ground penetrating radar specialist, the stark truth of the preliminary findings came to light -- the confirmation of the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School," said Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc community.

"To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths," she said in the statement.

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For decades, McLeod says he and former students like him would wonder what had happened to friends and classmates.

"Sometimes people didn't come back, we were happy for them, we thought they ran away, not knowing if they did or whatever happened to them," said McLeod, who now serves as chief of British Columbia's Upper Nicola band.

"There were discussions that this may have happened, that they may have passed," he says adding, "What I realized yesterday was how strong I was, as a little boy, how strong I was to be here today, because I know that a lot of people didn't go home."

The Kamloops Indian Residential school was one of the largest in Canada and operated from the late 19th century to the late 1970s. It was opened and run by the Catholic Church until the federal government took it over in the late 1960s.

Harvey McLeod attended Kamloops in the late 1960s. He said the school scarred generations of First Nation members.

It closed permanently about a decade later and now houses a museum and a community facility with both cultural and memorial events.

Community leaders say the investigation will continue in conjunction with the British Columbia Coroner's Office and that community and government officials will ensure the remains are safeguarded and identified. Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe issued a statement saying that her office is early in the process of gather information.

"We recognize the tragic, heartbreaking devastation that the Canadian residential school system has inflicted upon so many, and our thoughts are with all of those who are in mourning today," she said.

In 2015 Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a report detailing the damaging legacy of the country's residential school system. Thousands of mostly indigenous children were separated from their families and forced to attend residential schools.

The report detailed decades of physical, sexual and emotional abuse suffered by children in government and church run institutions.

'Horrific chapter in Canadian history'

"The news that remains were found at the former Kamloops residential school breaks my heart - it is a painful reminder of that dark and shameful chapter of our country's history. I am thinking about everyone affected by this distressing news. We are here for you," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Friday.

In an interview with CNN, Carolyn Bennett, Canada's minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, says this revelation speaks to all Canadians about a "very painful truth" and a "horrific chapter in Canadian history."

"This was the reason why five of the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission wanted us to deal with the missing children and the unmarked graves because they knew there was much more than what they had been able to ascertain at the hearings," said Bennett.

The commission recommended 94 calls to action as remedy and healing. Indigenous rights' groups says very few of them have been acted upon, including the need for health and educational equity between indigenous and non-indigenous children.

In 2019, Trudeau said he and his government accepted the harm inflicted on indigenous peoples in Canada amounted to genocide, saying at the time that the government would move forward to "end this ongoing tragedy."

McLeod says the residential school system scarred generations in his family and the abuse he suffered at the school in Kamloops terrorized him, his family and his classmates.

A childhood photo of Harvey McLeod, at left.

"The abuse that happened to me was physical, yes, was sexual, yes, and in 1966 I was a person that didn't want to live anymore, it changed me," said McLeod, comparing the trauma he suffered to that of a prisoner of war.

He says he entered the school in 1966 along with most of his siblings.

"Seven of us went at the same time, same school that my mum and my dad went to, there wasn't an option, it was a requirement, it was the law. And I can only imagine what my mom and my dad, how they felt, when they dropped some of us there knowing what they experienced at that school," he said.

As was documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, many of the children in residential schools did not receive adequate medical care with some dying prematurely of diseases like tuberculous.

The commission estimates that more than 4,000 children died while at residential schools over a period of several decades, but the final commission report acknowledges it was impossible to know the true number.

McLeod says this week's discovery at his former school has already helped community members he knows discuss the abuse they suffered and the inter-generational trauma it has caused.

He says he would like to be engaged in healing and now wants to avoid pointing fingers or blame.

"I have forgiven, I have forgiven my parents, I have forgiven my abusers, I have broken the chain that held me back at that school, I don't want to live there anymore but at the same time make sure that the people who didn't come home are acknowledged and respected and brought home in a good way," he said.

(CNN)The gruesome discovery took decades and for some survivors of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada, the confirmation that children as young as 3 were buried on school grounds crystallizes the sorrow they have carried all their lives.

"I lost my heart, it was so much hurt and pain to finally hear, for the outside world, to finally hear what we assumed was happening there," said Harvey McLeod, who attended the school for two years in the late 1960s, in a telephone interview with CNN Friday.

"The story is so unreal, that yesterday it became real for a lot of us in this community," he said.

The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc community in the southern interior of British Columbia, where the school was located, released a statement late Thursday saying an "unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented" was confirmed.

"This past weekend, with the help of a ground penetrating radar specialist, the stark truth of the preliminary findings came to light -- the confirmation of the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School," said Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc community.

"To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths," she said in the statement.

Trinity Mount Ministries - FBI - Suicidal Behavior in Preteens

By Tony Salvatore, M.A.

Police officers frequently have contact with suicidal adolescents and teens. It is far less common for them to become involved with younger children exhibiting suicidal behavior, but this may be changing.

Preteen suicides in the United States are rare but increasing. Suicidal behaviors ranging from ideation to nonfatal attempts also are becoming progressively more common in preadolescents.

If current trends continue, police officers and other first responders can expect to receive a growing number of mental health calls involving suicidal children. They also will have to cope with the aftermath of more suicides by children in coming years.

Suicide prevention training for police officers does not usually cover suicidal behavior and suicides in preteens. Agencies must remedy this. Officers may be among the first to encounter this problem in their communities.

Incidence

It once was widely believed that young children did not take their own lives because they could not grasp the concept of suicide.1 However, in the late 1980s, research showed that suicide claimed a number of victims at an early age and that as many as 12 percent of school-age children experienced suicidal ideation.2

Mr. Salvatore directs suicide prevention and postvention efforts at Montgomery County Emergency Service in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Even very young children engage in nonfatal suicidal behavior.3 This creates serious suicide risk in childhood that individuals carry into adolescence, young adulthood, and beyond.

Frequency

Early childhood suicidality has made a mark on the health system in the United States. A review of admissions to 31 pediatric hospitals from 2005 to 2015 found almost 15,000 cases of suicidal ideation or suicide attempts by children 5 to 11 years of age.4

Assessments of children ages 10 to 12 presenting to emergency departments in three urban medical centers found 30 percent positive for suicide risk. One in five of the children had made a previous suicide attempt.5 This suggests that emergency departments should screen for suicide risk in all children, even as early as 10 years old.

Although they may have access to only a limited range of lethal means, young children are capable of suicide.6 In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the first time listed suicide as the 10th-leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 11.7 It was the ninth-leading cause of violence-related death for children ages 5 to 9 in 2015.8

Between 1993 and 2012, 657 children in the United States ages 5 to 11 years old died by suicide.9 This is an average of 33 child suicides per year.

Young children can develop suicide plans readily within their capability to carry out.10 One study found that 1 in 10 children ages 3 to 7 acknowledged thoughts of suicide, expressed what appeared to be plans, and acted in a manner that looked like an attempt.11

Demographics

Early childhood suicidality is more common in boys and is associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder.12

In one study, victims mostly included black male children who died by hanging, strangulation, or suffocation.13 Data on suicides involving children 5 to 11 years old from 1993 to 1997 and from 2008 to 2012 showed a significant increase in suicides of young black children and a notable decline of suicides in white preadolescents between the two periods. This shift has not presented in other age groups. The increase in suicides among black children is a notable departure from the distribution of suicides by race for all ages and particularly for young children.14

Risk Factors and Warning Signs

Suicidal behavior in preschoolers relates to impulsivity, running away, hyperactivity, morbid ideas, high pain tolerance, not crying after injury, and parental neglect.15 A family history of suicidal behavior, exposure to physical and sexual abuse, preoccupation with death, and prior suicide attempts are additional factors to consider.16

Impulsivity is a prominent characteristic of preteen suicides. For children ages 5 to 11, “impulsive responding” to arguments, conflicts, relationship problems with family members and friends, and other adverse environmental and life situations is a trigger for early childhood suicide.17 Children may lack the ability to foresee their lives getting better or to comprehend the temporary nature of some problems.

Notably, mental illness plays a smaller role in suicidal behavior in preadolescents than in older children.18

Misclassification

It can prove difficult to decisively quantify preadolescent suicide because authorities may misclassify young children’s suicides as accidents or otherwise unintentional deaths.19 This represents a particular problem in the black community.20 Preteen suicide victims leave notes less often than teenagers do and have less access to lethal means, such as firearms, which can raise doubts about suicide as the cause of death.21

Misclassification also may result, at least in part, from old beliefs some coroners and medical examiners still share about the suicidal capability of young children. The fact that accidental deaths and unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in children under age 14 also can influence this judgment.22 Individuals may not readily see preteen deaths by falls and even by hanging as suicides.

Theory

Most models attempting to explain suicide focus on teens, adults, and elders. However, one theoretical paradigm suggests how suicidal behavior may arise in anyone, including young children. The interpersonal-psychological theory explains how overcoming the natural resistance to lethal self-harm can result in a suicide attempt.23

According to this theory, a suicide attempt may occur when two factors exist: 1) an intense desire to die and 2) the capacity for self-harm.24 The former arises from negative self-perceptions, a poor self-image, and unfavorable social comparisons.25 The latter is associated with a high tolerance to pain, diminished fear of severe injury, and lowered fear of death.26 This “acquired capability” becomes established over time through exposure to hurtful, painful, or violent experiences, such as self-injury, physical or sexual abuse, or bullying.27

Circumstances that contribute to suicidality in young children include—

• decreased self-esteem;
• belief that they hold responsibility for some family problem (e.g., divorce);
• feeling worthless or like a burden to the family;
• not feeling valued;28
• violent interactions between parents, which may cause children to believe they are worthless and expendable;29
• bullying and being bullied;30
• parental abuse and neglect, which may produce self-directed aggression;31
• having a sibling who attempted suicide;32 and
• experiencing conflict, aggression, and abuse in the household.33

Suicide threats and attempts relate to antisocial behavior and hostility toward parents in children 5 to 12 years of age.34 Abuse, neglect, or other trauma in the family may produce suicidal behavior in young children. Research shows that witnessing violence promotes suicidal ideation in urban 9- and 10-year-olds.35 Officers called to a household because of domestic violence must keep collateral suicide risk in mind during their investigations.

Bullying can generate an intense desire to die and the development of an acquired capability for lethal self-harm. Both victims and bullies themselves more likely will exhibit suicidal ideation or behavior compared with children not exposed to bullying.36

“Although they may have access to only a limited range of lethal means, young children are capable of suicide.”

Prior suicide attempts, self-injury, and mentally practicing a suicide plan represent other ways an individual may acquire the capability for a lethal attempt.37 Evidence suggests that these behaviors may significantly contribute to suicidality in young children.38

“Suicide competence” comes with making attempts over time.39 Many preadolescent suicide victims engaged in earlier suicidal behavior.40 Repeated tries facilitate future attempts as the individual accrues lethal experience and skill and sheds inhibitions to suicide.

Histories of multiple increasingly lethal suicide attempts are present in prepubertal children.41 Suicidal teens may have histories of past attempts starting as early as age 9.42

One study found self-injury in almost 8 percent of surveyed third graders (average age 7) and 4 percent of sixth graders (average age 11).43 In this age group, more boys than girls self-injured, and hitting oneself proved the most common method.44 Such behaviors reduce the natural inhibition to self-harm and enhance the risk of suicide.

Preadolescents can make basic suicide plans.45 Mentally going over the plan is one way to gain the ability to carry it out.46 This may occur even in very young children. Children can experience persistent suicidal ideation over time.47 This may be how suicidality in the very young progresses from vague thoughts of death to a concrete selection of means.48

Screening

No specific guidelines exist for police officers to use in identifying suicide risk in young children. However, when dealing with young children troubled by suicidal thoughts, officers should assure them that they are safe and not in trouble and that the officers are there to help. They should use terms children can understand and ask age-appropriate questions.

Screening for suicide risk in very young children is only recommended if high risk is evident or strongly suspected.49 Officers can ask general questions, such as “Do things ever get so bad that you think about hurting yourself?” or “Have you ever tried to kill yourself?”50 Suicide risk screening questions do not harm young children and have not been found to induce or intensify suicidality.51

Identifying suicide risk in this age group relies on interviews with the child, parental reporting, and self-reporting by the child.52 A flexible interview using questions that the child can answer is the recommended approach for determining suicide risk in prepubertal children.53 Parents will serve as the best sources in cases with very young children, and talking with them will avoid upsetting a possibly suicidal child.

A suicide risk screener for young children should consist of a few short questions about recent thoughts and behaviors. Police officers may not need to use a formal screener with young children, but looking at an example of such a tool can be helpful.

One set of suicide-screening questions has proven successful with children as young as 10 years of age.54

What to do when you find CSAM or evidence of Child Sex Trafficking Online

 

In the year 2000, just about half of all American adults were online. Today, nine-in-ten adults use the internet in the United States, according to Pew Research Center.

And in 2020, Americans, along with the rest of the world, are spending even more time online. People are spending 45% more time on social media since March of 2020 globally, with a 17% increase in the U.S., according to Statista.

Unfortunately, as our time spent online has increased, so has the chance that we may come across abusive content on the platforms where we should all feel safe.

Because we are not a direct-service organization, Thorn is not able to field reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or child sex trafficking. But since we build software and tools aimed at detecting, removing, and reporting abuse content, we can help to point you in the right direction should you ever inadvertently come across harmful content.

Reporting this content through the right channels as a community helps to keep platforms safe, and could lead to the identification of a victim or help to end the cycle of abuse for survivors.

Here’s what to do if you find CSAM or evidence of child sex trafficking online.

Child sexual abuse material and child sex trafficking

First we need to talk about what child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is, and how it’s different from child sex trafficking.

Child sexual abuse material (legally known as child pornography) refers to any content that depicts sexually explicit activities involving a child. Visual depictions include photographs, videos, digital or computer generated images indistinguishable from an actual minor. To learn more about CSAM and why it’s a pressing issue, click here.

As defined by the Department of Justice, child sex trafficking “refers to the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a minor for the purpose of a commercial sex act.” To learn more, click here.

Now let’s look at how to report this type of content should you ever come across it online:

1. Never share content, even in an attempt to make a report

It can be shocking and overwhelming if you see content that appears to be CSAM or related to child sex trafficking, and your protective instincts might be kicked into high gear. Please know that you are doing the right thing by wanting to report this content, but it’s critical that you do so through the right channels.

Never share abuse content, even in an attempt to report it. Social media can be a powerful tool to create change in the right context, but keep in mind that every instance of CSAM, no matter where it’s found or what type of content it is, is a documentation of abuse committed against a child. When that content is shared, even with good intentions, it spreads that abuse and creates a cycle of trauma for victims and survivors that is more difficult to stop with every share.

It’s also against federal law to share or possess CSAM of any kind, which is legally defined as “any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (someone under 18 years of age).” State age of consent laws do not apply under this law, meaning federally a minor is defined as anyone under the age of 18.

The same goes if you think you’ve found illegal ads promoting the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), such as child sex trafficking. Sharing this content publicly may unwittingly extend the cycle of abuse. Instead, be sure to report content via the proper channels as outlined below.

2. Report it to the platform where you found it

The most popular platforms usually have guides for reporting content. Here are some of the most important to know:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

But let’s take a moment to look at reporting content to Facebook and Twitter.

Reporting content to Facebook

Whether you want to report a page, post, or profile to Facebook, look for the three dots to the right of the content, click on them, and then click on Find support or report Page.

From there you will be guided through the process and will get a confirmation that your report has been received. Be sure to select Involves a Child when making your report.

Reporting content on Twitter:

While you can report a tweet for violating Twitter’s policies in a similar way to Facebook content (clicking the  button to report a tweet), if you are reporting child exploitation content on Twitter, there’s a separate process that ensures reports of CSAM or other exploitative content are given priority.

First, click here to see what content violates Twitter’s child exploitation policies. Then fill out this form with the appropriate information, including the username of the profile that posted the content, and a link to the content in question.

To find the direct link to a tweet, click the share button at the bottom of the tweet and select Copy link to Tweet.

For any other platforms, you should always be able to easily find a way to report abuse content with a quick online search. For example, search for: Report abusive content [platform name].

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also offers overviews for reporting abusive content for multiple platforms here.

3. Report it to CyberTipline

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is the clearinghouse for all reports of online child sexual exploitation in the United States. That means they are the only organization in the U.S. that can legally field reports of online child sexual exploitation. If NCMEC determines it to be a valid report of CSAM or CSEC, they will connect with the appropriate agencies for investigation.

Fill out the CyberTipline report by clicking here.

This is a critical step in addressing the sexual exploitation of children online. Be sure to fill out as much detail as you’re able.

4. Report CSEC to the National Human Trafficking Hotline

If you find evidence of child sex trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

Managed by Polaris, the hotline offers 24/7 support, as well as a live chat and email option. You can also text BEFREE (233733) to discreetly connect with resources and services.

5. Get your content removed and connect with resources

If you have been the victim of explicit content being shared without consent, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative put together a guide for requesting content to be removed from most popular platforms.

If you have been the victim of sextortion—a perpetrator using suggestive or explicit images as leverage to coerce you into producing abuse content—take a look at our Stop Sextortion site for more information and tips on what to do.

NCMEC has put together a robust list of resources for survivors of sexual abuse material.

6. Practice wellness

Close the computer. Take a deep breath. Go for a walk.

This is an extremely difficult issue, and if you’ve just gone through the steps above, it means you’ve recently encountered traumatic material.

But you’ve also just taken a first step in what could ultimately be the rescue of a child or the cessation of a cycle of abuse for survivors.

Practice the things that create balance and support in your life, and if you need to, connect with additional resources. Text the Crisis Text Line to connect discreetly with trained counselors 24/7.

Or maybe you’re left with the feeling that there’s more work to be done. Learn more about local organizations working in this space and see if they offer volunteer opportunities. Fundraising for your favorite organizations can also make a huge difference.

If you’re here, whether you’re making a report or just equipping yourself with knowledge should you ever need it, you’re joining a collective movement to create a better world for kids. Know that you are part of a united force for good, one that won’t stop until every child can simply be a kid.

ADAM: Automated Delivery of Alerts on Missing Children

The ADAM Program quickly distributes missing child posters from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® to specific geographic search areas.

How The Program Works 

STEP 1: NCMEC sends a photo of a missing child and important case details - including geographic areas to target for poster distribution - to ADAM.

STEP 2: The ADAM technology matches the geo-targeted area selected by NCMEC with its recipient database, resulting in a list of businesses and individuals who will receive
the missing child poster.

STEP 3: ADAM transmits the missing child poster to
targeted recipients.

Did You Know?

• The ADAM Program was designed and donated to NCMEC by employees of LexisNexis Risk Solutions
• This program was named in honor of Adam Walsh, who went missing in 1981
• Employees who support ADAM use volunteer time to do so
• ADAM has been credited with the recovery of nearly 200 missing children and assisted in the recovery efforts of countless other cases

Download the ADAM Brochure

Sign Up Today

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