One of the most controversial policies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was the late19th to early 20thcentury decision to Americanize native children via education in boarding schools, such as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. These boarding schools separated students from their family and local cultures, training students to behave in accordance with the prevailing standard of "civilization": Anglo-American cultural practices. The goal was to enable native children to more easily leave their reservations via cultural assimilation into American society (at the time natives were viewed as trapped on their reservations). The boarding schools prohibited students from using their indigenous languages, practices, and cultures.