Ron Gosbee was a non-Indigenous child who attended St. Anne’s residential school with his two sisters. Ron’s mom had a close friendship with the nuns at the school, therefor she believed her children would receive high quality education by attending a residential school. The five-year-old experienced cruelty and physical abuse from his first day of school.  Ron claimed that after his parents had left the school, a furious nun grabbed him by the ear and forced him inside the school. He attended St. Anne’s residential school for three years and claims that he has only witnessed one incident of physical abuse; when a nun was beating an aboriginal child for not making his bed properly. Ron further stated that he was never whipped, beaten, or sexually abused during the three years he spent at St. Anne’s, however, he claimed that there was an electrical chair in the building. It was only used behind closed doors.

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Ruth, Ron’s sister, has stated that she was not emotionally supported by the school. She remembers arriving to St. Anne’s at the age eight, however she never received any type of support throughout her journey at St. Anne’s.

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The Gosbee siblings had planned on escaping from the cruelty at St. Anne’s residential school. They left the school ground at midnight, when everyone was asleep. Their only motive was to get home and see their parents once again. Both Ruth and Ron made it home safe, however, school officials came to their house the next day. A nun and the mother superior were riding a swamp buggy accompanied with the justice of the peace riding a snowmobile. They were there to once again take them back to St. Anne’s.

 

The escape had failed. Ron’s parents decided to send their children back to St. Anne’s as they believed their escape was a childish act. Ron was extremely frustrated and tried various escape routes which were all unsuccessful. He further claimed that he felt as if he was a prisoner with no options of escaping the brutal conditions of residential schools.