NEW YORK TIMES Editorial: Research has long shown that locking up young people puts them at greater risk of dropping out of school, joining the unemployment line and becoming permanently entangled in the criminal justice system. States and municipalities have thus been sending fewer young offenders to juvenile institutions and more of them to community-based programs that keep them connected to their families and reduce the risk that they will engage in further crime. The number of children held in custody plummeted from about 107,000 in 1995 to less than 71,000 in 2010 and is still falling.
This is all to the good. But the authorities could bring even more juveniles into the mainstream if they did a significantly better job of educating them. That means paying more attention to the learning disabilities, emotional problems and substance abuse issues with which these youngsters are disproportionately afflicted and which often helped land them in trouble in the first place.
It is a mistake to assume that all children held in juvenile facilities represent “hard cases” beyond redemption. Indeed, a new study, by the Southern Education Foundation, a nonprofit group based in Atlanta, shows that nearly two-thirds of the young people who were confined in 2010 were confined for nonviolent offenses… (more)
The juvenile justice system is not an education system and should not be made into one. I see no reason to incarcerate juveniles for minor crimes but a bright line must be drawn between the education system and the justice system. Getting one’s self involved with the justice system should be a significant event to the criminal, a serious wake up call. It should not be considered a transfer to another school.
The study shows that juvenile problems are directly related to the breakdown of the family and despite special attention, only 9% earn a GED or HS diploma, only 2% enter post secondary schools and only 2% more are accepted to post secondary schools. In addition, what also stands out is no juveniles in the study graduated post secondary school.
The state is not a substitute for a caring family. You cannot force someone to become educated no matter how much you spend. But we already know that.
EDITOR: So what are we to do for youngsters who do not come from a “caring family?” Lock them up and throw away the key? Not prepare them for adulthood so that they have no way of supporting themselves but through crime?
Why the editor believes something can be done about it eludes me. Because some young people don’t come from caring families does not mean they all become thugs and criminals. Like turning straw into gold some things are not possible. Get over it. To protect the public prison may be the only answer for some people.
EDITOR: You are attacking a straw man. The article and our comments acknowledge that some young criminals require incarceration.
The challenge is to help channel other from violent crimes to productive lives.