I watched Sun Village, (a link from the student films page) a mini documentary on an agency caring for children of incarcerated parents. One boy's father had killed his mother and was now in jail, but the boy had not yet been told of either his father's actual crime--he thought his father was a burgler--nor of the demise of his mother. He thought of his mother often and hoped she was happy in her old village, and that he could see her soon. His teachers wouldn’t tell him until he could bear the hurt of knowing the truth.
I found the personnel at the institution to be more personable than I would have thought and in general was surprised that the social response to these children is so like our institutions. (I once volunteered at McLaren Children's Hall, where children went immediately after intake to foster care, just after removal from their homes.) I think I expected something more dogmatic; I suspect I've been reading too many novels!