Children In Juvenile Detention

In today’s society, many young children are in peril. They are abused, neglected, and subject to bad influences. Many young teens do not have the ability and emotional intelligence yet, to be able to deal with the emotional, social, and psychological challenges that come with the neglect. When no one intervenes, these children suffer and could eventually fall into despair and hopelessness. Thus, these teens resort to crime in order to be heard. Consequently, the kids are thrown into juvenile detention.

While throwing the problematic children into detention is one way to deal with them, some would agree that it isn’t the correct action. Personally, when I picture juvenile detention, I imagine a boot camp. This boot camp is complete with its’

own set of drill instructors that yell and spit at the kids until they learn discipline. These thoughts sound similar to the brutality parents would show their kids in the middle ages when they did something wrong (Clear, Cole, & Reisig). With the current methods of rehabilitation, many would agree that these children are most likely going to reoffend as adults when they are released. While we may think these ideas, The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention report that there is no national recidivism rate for juveniles. Each state has their own programs and discipline methods to rehabilitate the young offenders ("National Criminal Justice Reference Service").
While I was wondering whether juvenile detention actually serves its purpose, I came upon the article, “Former Youth Inmates Proof Juvenile Reforms Work” by Christopher Zoukis. Renown author, Zoukis dictates about two young boys that were put in the system. Sang Dao and Noah Shultz are living proof that the system can work for you. While in detention, Dao became a mentor to other young boys, and earned his bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Shultz took a similar path and received, not only his GED, but a BS in Human Development and Family Sciences and a BS in Sustainability.
Since spending their early years behind bars, Dao and Shultz have become pro justice reform advocates. They are trying to spread the message that locking up teens isn’t the solution. Instead, we should be helping these children by getting them, “…mentors, and education and occupational opportunities inside corrections facilities.” With an idea as simple as to giving an inmate a good influence, the tides of recidivism can change (Zoukis).
While the corrections system may rehabilitate some, many others are unhindered by it. Even though the juvenile recidivism rate depends on each state, Dao and Shultz are important examples that changing it up can make a difference. If adding mentors that can help counsel and lead in the right direction are helping lower the recidivism rate, we should require all juvenile detentions around the country to implement these ideas. In order to save the children, we should try every available avenue.