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Children Should Be Kept In Prison Essay

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Kids who are stuck in adult prisons are losing their lives before they can reform them. A quote from Huma Khan says, “Some 3000 children nationwide have been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Children as young as thirteen have been tried as adults and sentenced to die in prison, typically without any consideration of their age or circumstances of the offense.” (Huma Khan) This explains how kids used to be able to be kept in prison until they died.Some of these children our in there at 15 till death. These children can't see the real world outside of their bad conditions , get a job, drive, get married, have kids, and hang with friends or family. Kids are stuck with abusive adults at young ages missing out on milestones. Not only are the kids …show more content…

However, two wrongs do not make a right; prosecuting a very young child for murder and sending him to prison for life is tragic in and of itself. It essentially takes the life of another child and causes unimaginable heartache for others.”(Philip Holloway) Holloway explains how a child dying and a child locked away for life and both depressing and not only is a child dead, but a child I'd locked for life. Like Holloway mentions two wrongs don't make a right and prosecuting a child is very unreasonable. America’s youth and adult prison population peaked in the late 1990, following a spiking crime rate and harsher sentencing laws. “Youth incarceration, in particular, exploded: by 1997, more than 107,000 kids were behind bars, only about a quarter for violent offenses.” (This quote explains how many kids are in adults prisons now. Many kids are suffering because they grew up with a bad future already. When you start off bad it's hard to rise to the top. Kids are young and without guidance of parents, kids will do stupid things. We all want attention, that's what kids are

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The article goes on to say that over 3,000 people are in prison for a crime they committed as a minor. They say it is done because they are not allowed to give minors the death penalty any longer. They say that for a minor life in prison is the equivalent to the death penalty. It is then brought about that some of these children are under the of 13. The author of the goes on to say that the courts realize that the children doing these crimes are not fully mature and understanding of their crime.

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In the documentary “When Kids Get Life” by Ofra Bikel we see five men who were sentenced to life in prison for committing crimes in their teens. We hear the stories of how it happened, why it happened, and what life is like for them today. This documentary sheds light on the battle that juveniles face when they commit crimes and the judicial system. This documentary relates heavily in the material we learn because although it is about teenagers who receive life in prison, the judicial system plays a key role.

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Not only does Berstein call for an overall reform of this nation’s juvenile prisons, she goes as far as saying the practice of locking up youth is in need of a “more profound than incremental and partial reform” (13). The fact that Bernstein outlines the numerous failed strategies and goals of this practice with her compelling use of studies and statistics is enough to promote an audience to reject the practice of locking up youth. The statistic she shares that “four out of five juvenile parolees [will be] back behind bars within three years of release” as well as the studies she conducted on numerous instances when a guards abuse of power lead to the death of a child work to further prove her point: being that “institution[s] as intrinsically destructive as the juvenile prison” have no place in a modern society (13, 83). Bernstein refutes this false sense effectiveness further by sharing her own ideas on what she believes works as a much more humane solution to rehabilitating

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In the article, “Prison for Young Killers Renews Debate on Saving Society’s Lost” by Don Terry, Terry talks about the debate on how to treat a twelve year old and a thirteen year old that had dropped a five year old child out a 14-story window. Both boys, whose names were not given, had lived in a dangerous neighborhood and had all the adults in their lives fail them. Also, both of their IQs fall below the average IQ of a normal person. Each state had called for a harsh punishment for the boys. The age for being put into a maximum security juvenile prison had been lowered to a ten years of age.

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Alabama, as a result of Miller’s appeal the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to impose a life without parole sentence on children under age 18. The documentary Second Chance Kids and the article They Were Sentenced as Superpredators covers the aftermath of the 2012 Supreme Court ruling that followed “lifers” who were imprisoned as minors and not offered a chance for parole. One of these lifers, Joe Donavan, was one of the first to be released on parole after the court’s ruling. One notable thing to remember is that none of the prisoners released after committing crimes as children have broken their parole or perpetrated another crime. This supports the court’s decision to release prisoners who committed crimes as minors as it proves the “superpredator” theory wrong by showing that these teens are capable of improvement and change.

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If they are going to plan out a crime, then later go on to brag about it, there is something obviously wrong with them that is more than just being a minor. Every situation and case is different, and should be treated that way. If you send a child to prison expecting them to be able to change by themselves, you would be very wrong. They are at a stage where they are the most malleable; they take so much from the influences around them. So when you put them in a place filled with criminals, they’re going to change from children to

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The article, The Steep Costs of Keeping Juveniles in Adult Prisons by Jessica Lahey states that “due to the imbalance of power between children and adults, not to mention between children and prison staff, sexual abuse of juveniles in adult prison is underreported; fewer than one in 10 of the juveniles surveyed reported their abuse.” ( ). The adult prison is not safe because of the abuses between the staff and juvenile, they need to be aware of what happens in the adult system. Lahey wants to show how dangerous the adult system is by stating what actually happens in prison to the juveniles because of the adult prisoners and the staff. Lahey also explains about how the lack of services and safety, “juveniles housed in adult prisons are 36 times more likely to commit suicide than juveniles housed apart from adult offenders.”

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Sentencing juveniles to prison happens to be a very controversial topic today. Many people believe that juveniles should receive the same consequences as an adult criminal and a vast amount of people believe that juveniles should be given a second chance. I personally believe that a child should not be given the same consequences as an adult so the question I would like to pose to my audience is should juvenile offenders be offered the same consequences as adult offenders? Statistics show that across the nation at least 1,200 people are sentenced to life without parole for a crime they committed when they were under the age of 18. Majority of people will argue that this justified because if a child is given a second chance they will continue to commit crimes in the future.

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When people commit crimes, there should be disciplined no matter what. Juveniles need to learn that their behaviors have consequences. Why should kids be given any less of a punishment for committing the same crime? According to one author, “Taking a life is murder regardless of the age of the offender, and the penalties to be imposed must not discriminate. After all, the victim’s life will never be returned, and the family will permanently lose their loved one” (“7 Top Pros and Cons of Juveniles Being Tried As Adults”).

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There are many children in the world who are being put behind bars and detained for alleged wrongdoing without protections they are entitled to. Throughout the world, children are charged and sentenced for actions that should not be considered as adult crimes. Here in the United States, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is age 12. Law enforcement officials and those in the juvenile justice system nationwide tend to mistreat underage individuals by trying cases while working through the lens of an adult. Unfair punishments are still handed down domestically, which is in violation of Supreme Court law.

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Juveniles in prison face increased violence and sexual abuse, and are at much higher risks of committing suicide than juveniles in juvenile prisons. In addition, the number of released prisoners that turn back to crime is much higher for those that were juveniles in adult prisons. Juveniles will face the consequences of their actions in juvenile prisons, but will also be given a second chance to change their lives through rehabilitation. It is time to stop failing this nation’s juveniles and build a system that benefits not only these children, but society as a whole through the end of a vicious criminal

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There are differences between a juvenile court and criminal court in the United States. The focus of the juvenile justice system is on rehabilitation, in hope of deterring the minor away from a life of crime so they will not commit a crime again as an adult. In contrast, the criminal justice system focuses on the punishment and often bases the sentencing outcome on the criminal history of the youth. In a study conducted, Butler (2011) showed that the participants’ experience with adult jails and prisons show that those facilities may instill fear but are otherwise emotionally—and often physically—dangerous for youth. Many of the adult prisoners, who were minors when they enter the adult institution, felt they were forced to “grow

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Doing so has had countless adverse effects on the youth. Despite this, many prisons and facilities have turned a blind eye to these negative factors, and continue to plant them in the adult systems. Children should not have to be put in jails and prisons with adults because they have an increased chance of being raped, educational services are often too expensive, and their minds are inclined to becoming mentally unstable, which often leads to suicide. Solutions to these issues include lifting the ban that prevents grants to be awarded to inmates, and abolishing children from adult jail facilities altogether. Conversely, others may argue that these children deserve this treatment, children are becoming more intelligent and know right from wrong, and that these sentences will show others what can potentially happen.

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Child predators are individuals who engage in illegal and immoral activities that involve the exploitation and abuse of children. Sadly, in many cases, these predators often receive light sentences, are released early from prison, and are held to little to no accountability for their actions. This reality is a grave concern for society, as it means that vulnerable children are left unprotected and the cycle of abuse is allowed to continue. One reason for the release of child predators is due to overcrowding in prisons, which often leads to early releases for non-violent offenders. Unfortunately, this policy can result in the release of child predators who pose a significant threat to children's safety.

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