Incarceration and visiting privileges for children

A recent TV news item discussed plans for children to visit their parents who are currently in jail. They argue that these children (numbering over 180,000) have not done anything wrong and should have the opportunity of visiting their parent in jail to maintain that bonding between parents and  children arguing their innocence. The children would be placed on buses with adult supervision and guidance. Judging from the TV clip the operation has already started.Although I agree with this move, I don't feel that the public should be subsidizing the cost for this service.

In the case of our native population the scenario is reversed. As I understand over 150,000 native children  were forcibly taken  from their homes  placed in residential schools. Here they were  denied parental visits. In many cases they were also physically and even sexually abused not by other students (inmates) but by their teachers and supervisors. Think about it these innocent native children who presumably (like the children of the incarcerated parents) did no harm were not only forcibly confined but were also denied visitation rites from their parents. What I find appalling was that the medical and other heath care professionals who realize the importance of parental binding would not even consider stepping in and implementing this action (The residential school program was not abandoned until 1986).

I am glad to see that at least the government is implementing it for the incarcerated parents. It is too late to implement it for the reversed scenario I outlined. Because it can not be applied retroactively. Indeed the "genocide scars" from the forceable confinement of native children in the residential school program can never be erased.

 I hope that the program the government is currently introducing for the children visiting their incarcerated parents are also including children of incarcerated natives .