What if our juvenile system could help kids who are already lost?

An alternative proposal to juvenile incarceration written by a juvenile.

Statement of the problem:

Crimes are at the forefront of modern day society. Often such activity comes from individuals who are in need of attention and are crying out for help. The nature of a crime committed should affect their jail time. Juveniles who commit serious crimes should not be treated any differently than adults because they need to be punished for what they have done. “The United States holds 4% of the world’s population and 22% of the incarcerated population” (Bratt, 2015). It’s clear that the prison system isn’t setup to actually help people improve. In fact, it is evident that many people don’t learn anything while imprisoned. Dehumanizing a person is just pure wrong and we as a nation need to do better. The idea that we force our prisoners to work is horrific and reminds me of slavery. Forced work takes a big toll on a prisoner’s mind and distracts them from their primary purpose for being incarcerated, that is to heal. This can result in an ongoing cycle for people that clearly starts at a young age. Some get so accustomed to their daily slave work while incarcerated that when they are released they don’t know how to act as a normal human being anymore, so they end up back in the never ending cycle of the system. Prison does not help prepare people for living in the real world again. Juveniles experience many horrible things while incarcerated including, sexual abuse, violence, and dehumanization. Kids naturally look up to adults because they expect them to have more knowledge and wisdom than their peers. When juveniles are sent to prison they already have a negative visual of what it is, and that hurts them because they will never be those same innocent kids again.

Exposing kids to glorified prisons that they view on the big screen can cause problems, and the government is a major cause of this, as Bernstein explained, “We are hurting kids, and hurting ourselves in the process, exposing too many young people to inhumane conditions with the sole measurable result of increasing the odds that they will draw ever more deeply into delinquency”(Bernstein,8). Prison doesn’t help everyone get back on track because everyone’s perspective and hardships will always vary. Certain situations can take an exceptional toll on one’s life. Kids are especially at risk to be ultimately traumatized from prison because they are still young and dependent on their guardians. As I stated earlier when juveniles enter prison they have their own outlook on what prison is going to be, and according to Curtis, “Curtis describe his experience as ten-year old in a high security facility as akin to being ‘thrown to the dogs. If you’re out there with the savages, then you’re gonna have to become a savage in order to survive’” (Bernstein,6). This goes to show that through evolution only the fittest survive and if you must kill and fight to stay alive then you do what you have to do. A major problem that is happening is that no one is actually learning from their mistakes.

We are all products of our environments therefore unless we find motivation and a new path other than from our peers around us we are stuck in a down going negative cycle that this nation has created. Prisons come from back when slavery was known to be okay. Nowadays prisons are a more organized and modern day version of slavery. As stated in the fourteenth amendment we sign over our rights as humans and allow America to enslave us. We’ve learned from our past history that slavery does not work there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I simply cannot see why America can find it okay to keep this going. Prisons aren’t helping inmates see the right way as said in this excerpt, “…higher than 80% in some states-indicate that whatever is taking place inside juvenile correctional facilities, nobody is actually being corrected’”(Bernstein,7). The money could be used for a better cause as in a better education for our youth, programs for at risk kids, and even more influential health programs. Sadly greed rules this world and the American society rather see the people fall rather than rise and gain REAL knowledge. As a nation we are spending far too much money on incarcerating juveniles. As Bernstein states “on average, we spend $80,000 per year to incarcerate a young person in a state facility-more than eight time the $10,652 we invest in her education (Bernstein, 6). We keep education from so many people in the world and that’s because so much money is invested into incarceration. Minority youth are also incarcerated at high rates, just like adults and that’s scary. It’s like the generation after never learned, or maybe the government just has it out for minorities since we loose all our rights once thrown in jail. Slavery hasn’t ended, it just got more technical.

Throughout history minorities have been mistreated and it still carries on today as said in this article, “Black and brown youth, especially those from impoverished communities, face far different prospects than do their white counterparts on this front. Those living in poor neighborhoods are subject to what sociologist Victor Rio calls a “culture of control”-treated with suspicion and harsh discipline at school, on the street, and even in the community” (Bernstein, 8). It just proves the type of poverty minorities go through, but it also shows how we end up due to how America set up our lives. They’re well aware of how people are living and how people are killing each other due to pain, drugs, and money but it doesn’t matter to them. This was how they envisioned it to be and they are winning. They are rich because they put us through so much pain and tribulation. Not to mention police today are trained to kill and arrest anyone for probable cause. The government may say that juvenile incarceration is decreasing but this is certainly untrue. Bernstein explains, “police arrest nearly 2 million juveniles each year, and demographer predict that one in three American school children will be arrested by the age of twenty-three” (Bernstein, 7). The government tells us one thing but statistics give us another, and it has always been like this when it comes to incarceration. Police have changed dramatically over the years and they are out to put people in jail especially kids. They want nothing more but to see us kill each other, or watch us slowly die behind bars. Both ways they get paid.

Sexual abuse is a serious case that has come up a lot in adult prisons but also in juvenile facilities. It scares many people because some can’t defend themselves and look for help from the guards but they don’t seem to help either: “There is no way to overstate the corrosiveness of the lesson Lamont learned so early: that law is a force of violation, not protection…More than 12 percent of juvenile prisoners will experience sexual assault behind bars” (Bernstein,104). It gives you a different perspective from the inside. It goes to show how brutal prison life is and why it doesn’t really help anyone learn from their mistake rather it dehumanizes and sets people back in life. They have to defend themselves from sexual assault and in order for that they have to kill or cause great harm to another person. Not only do guards use sexual assault, but they also use brute forces for any altercation or anything that seems wrong to them: “Guards often use hands-on physical restraint, not only to break up fights or avert other violence but in response to minor infractions such as horseplay, talking in line, or simply talking back…” (Bernstein, 31). Inmates may be violent but the guards get away with way worse. They hold a sense of power in the facility and can do anything they please with it. When children are abused they are scared and don’t know what to do, and in prison they can’t call for help and that scares them even more which makes incarceration a whole lot scarier. Kids in America are very scared in facilities but not only by the inmates but the guards as well: “Fear of abuse was equally pervasive: 38% of youth said they feared physical attacked by staff or other youth. Twenty five percent feared attack from another youth and 22 percent were afraid of attack from staff member. Many lived in fear of both” (Bernstein, 83). This goes to show how cruel prison can be for young kids. Sure they did wrong, but they shouldn’t be placed with grown men. In another excerpt by Bernstein, kids just fear prison because of attackers, “More than ⅓ of youth told researchers they feared being attacked while locked up, 25% by another resident and 22% by staff” (Bernstein, 31). As I stated earlier our government can say one thing but statistics can say another. Kids are being molested by people they look up to for protection and kids just like them. Its an endless cycle they must go through because they made a mistake.

History+Context:

The juvenile system was created to give youth a chance to change their wrong with people similar to what they did. Kids who want to change will change and the one’s who won’t simply will not. You hope to fix all but some is better than none. It’s a place for kids only so that they are not sent to adult prisons. During the 19th century social reformers began to create special facilities for juveniles. In 1899 the first juvenile court was created in Cook County, Illinois (CJCJ, 2015). 25 years after the Illinois juvenile system, most states had set up juvenile court systems. During that time the early juvenile courts shared with reform schools the same desire and hope to rehabilitate than punish juvenile offenders (CJCJ, 2015). With the hope of their parents juvenile systems focus on the best interests for the child. Back them juvenile prisons were large fortress-like congregate style institution located in urban areas for youth designated as abandoned, delinquent or incorrigible (CJCJ, 2015).

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries courts punished youth for their crimes and confined them with adults. In a CJCJ article it states, “courts punished and confined youth in jails and penitentiaries. Since few other options existed, youth of all ages and genders were often confined with hardened adult criminals and the mentally ill in large overcrowded and decrepit penal institutions” (CJCJ,2015). This is a crazy way of handling youth and adult crimes. This put kids at risk of adult crimes and lifestyle.

By the middle of the 19th century new types of prison facilities were created to help space out inmates so that a facility wasn’t so crowded. According to the CJCJ, “The collection of institutions and programs were finally brought together with the creation of the the juvenile court” (CJCJ, 2015). With the creation of these new facilities kids were now able to live a little more at ease knowing they would be with other kids and not adults. They didn’t have to be as afraid as they were while in adult prison.

Proposed solutions:

Location/facility: My facility exists In communities around the areas that have high rates of juvenile incarceration.It only houses male youth from ages 7–18. It gives the families of those young children a chance to still support their children through their hard times. I also want to add trees around the structure so it doesn’t look so gloomy. I want to make it look modern. I will have walls that the kids will be able to decorate themselves. Make it feel like there not closed off but just taking time away to figure themselves out. They each add their own spice to the facility with their own spunk. I don’t want it to look like jail but more like a giant house. A place to learn and better yourself as a human being, so that when you enter the world again it felt like you never left. Visiting hours are open everyday any day of the year. You may never know, a family member might just brighten up a kids day. For drug offenders instead of my facility they will go to a rehab center everyday until they are done with their time. My facility will look more like a boarding school which holds two building sites. One for sleeping quarters and the other side holds classrooms. I don’t want the kids to loose any educational opportunities. I want the kids to have an opportunity to better themselves in and out of the classroom.

Figure 1: Base layout for the facility.

Program:

In my facility I want to add like college like feel. I want kids to be able to focus on doing what they have to do to improve themselves. I want them to be able to let loose in the process because they are still kids so I add facilities where they can play and burn energy. I also feel it’s important that they still get an education because if they don’t then they will be way behind when they enter society again.They will attend school 5 days out of the week and will take science, math, English, and workshop class. I also want to include an engineering class so I can open their minds to something that could possibly interest them. In order to make sure they are on track and completing work I will have advisories and counselors to help the kids through their academic road to excellence. I will also have tutors to help kids who need extra help. Then I will have staff that walk around and helps kids with work or just if they need to talk. Someone the kids can go to for guidance or just someone to hang out with. I just want the kids to be safe and learn how to improve everyday. Sure they made mistakes but I want to help them not make that mistake again. The students will take a survey once arriving to my facility. The survey will obtain questions from what they enjoy and dislike and from there we decide which kids stay together. We do this to try and diversity the kids so they get a mix of everyone from different areas. They are able to learn and change together as a team. This teaches kids that not everyone is so different, but when they do in fact have different perspectives and they will learn to accept them and build positive relationships with one another. No matter what race or age these kids are here for a reason and can trust each other as if they were brothers because they will be in the facility for a while. I don’t want it to feel like their entirely punished but they have to learn what they did was wrong. They will learn to better themselves in the absence of the world. They will learn to work together to become better as adolescents and as humans. They will gain rather then loose in my facility. They need to be given hope because in today’s prisons hope is very limited.

Below is a list of offenses and responses:

Drug offenses

Go to a rehab center 7 days of the week for 2 hours while still being able to live their daily lives for 2 months. They will be tested for drugs to make sure they are following their term. If failed then they will have to go to my facility where they will live their for 5 months. I set this up because I feel like drug offenders need treatment to get out of the state they are in. Prison won’t help them with their addiction, we have to get to them and for that I think a rehab center is the best thing for the juveniles.

Status Offenses

Have to do 50 hours of community 5 days of the week for 4 months. They must keep track and talk to a counselor to make sure they are slowly bettering themselves and improving.If violating their term they will be sent to my facility for reflecting and recognizing what they did was wrong. I think community service is the best process because all the wrong they did they are able to work it off. It’s easier and they hopefully learn to act better so that they don’t come back.

Violent Crimes

Automatically sent to my facility

Premeditated violent crimes

Depending on crime they will be set to a trial and from there will decide if they belong in my institution or adult prison.

How we choose staff:

While choosing staff we like to incorporate the youths opinion. We bring a few of the kids who have shown real improvement to the interview process so that they choose a mentor they would be comfortable with. Someone they can talk to when down and when they just need a friend and in need of advice. We want to make sure our staff is well prepared for the juveniles and vise versa. We want the staff to feel like big brothers or sisters to the juveniles. One big happy family, so that they get the love and hope they need to get through the program. Without a good staff everything doesn’t function as well. I want everything to run smoothly and make sure everyone is safe. If the boys have siblings I want them to be able to go back home and actually turn into someone that their siblings can look up to. They will change and hopefully do great things.

Anticipated arguments:

• How do you prevent violence at your institution?

At my institution I will have staff that are trained in preventing violence. Also I would like to have staff teach the boys how to deal with anger and what to do when faced with the decision of using violence.

• How do you prevent recidivism?

Counselors and advisers communicate with the kids and help them understand the right from wrong. They have to fix what they did wrong and get back on track to being a good citizen.

• How do you deal with drugs? Preventing them from entering facility?

Staff will check kids coming to make sure they have nothing dangerous. I have enough trust to hold the kids accountable for what they do. Without trust theses kids will not trust me or the guards. We as a unit must work together with the kids.

• What are the housing conditions like?

My conditions are like home. They have to clean up after themselves and go to school.

They are independent throughout the day until they want help or just want to talk. The conditions will be the best I can provide for the kids. The boys will have to learn to keep the conditions afloat and good.

• What will the curriculum be like?

Depending on the age of the boy will depend on the curriculum. They will be given the classes based on their grade level and I want them to be challenged. They should be thinking critically inside and outside of the classroom.