The children in the residential schools were not advanced by age or their intelligence. They were put ahead by their size and capability to do the hard labour that the year ahead had to do.
Studies done by the Cariboo Tribe and University of Guelph proved that students who attended the residential schools were more likely to be aggressive and unable to show affection to their family in adulthood. Their children are "found to be increasingly involved in criminal activity." (HO, I. (2011, AUGUST 31).
Some family members were completely unable to talk to each other. For instance, when Freda Smith arrived at the school two years after her sister did, she only spoke Mi'kmaw, so her and her sister could not communicate at all. (Knockwood, 2012)
The children at the school of the residential school in Shubenacadie swore it was haunted. The doors of the closets in the girls would swing open at night, and one night the nun heard and came to investigate. While she was standing front of them, she heard it open. She made all the children pray because "The souls of Purgatory need our prayers..pray for those who have died and who need our prayers." (Knockwood, 2012)