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Children In The Juvenile Justice System

Decent Essays

Children that are born into poverty and less than desirable conditions are more times than not, destined to become involved in the juvenile justice system. This may be due the child’s destructive behaviors or for placement out of concern for the child’s safety and well-being. Neglect and abuse is more prevalent in disadvantaged environments and causes sometimes-irreversible emotional problems. For whatever reason the child enters the system, we know that it is not a place for youth to grow, be nurtured and become productive members of society.
Drugs are wreaking havoc in our low-income communities. They are taking the men out of the family equation and leaving women to raise children alone. With no financial or emotional support, welfare …show more content…

I once read somewhere that in South Africa during Apartheid in 1993, there were about 851 per 100,000 black males incarcerated, and in the United States there were about 4,919. Per 100,000. This is inconceivable because South Africa at that time was known to be a racist society, and America being the “Free World.” The problem of inequality doesn’t seem to be one that is going away anytime soon. Until changes are made in the way minorities are treated in this country the problem will fester and grow.
The only prevention approach that I feel will help to divert these pipeline children from the system is education. We have to put the emphasis back on educating our youth and keeping their minds busy. We need to make sure that after school programs are abundant and affordable if not free. It should be mandatory that children attend head start programs that prepare them for kindergarten, so that no child is truly left …show more content…

There in no reason why anyone in the United States of America should be homeless or hungry, yet many children go to bed hungry every night and many with no real place to call home. When a child unfortunately gets involved in the juvenile justice system for whatever reason, we need to make sure that rehabilitation is the main focus at getting that child back on track. We need to find out the root causes for the behaviors that brought him to this point and work diligently to try and change them. Incarceration with out treatment is merely storing bodies. If you don’t treat a problem it festers and becomes an even bigger problem. Delinquency must be handled so as to avoid the adult judicial system.
Children and young adults usually don’t have the mentality to seek and utilize rehabilitative programs because they usually don’t want to acknowledge or don’t even realize that they have issues to be treated. We as adults need to show these troubled youth that we care about them and their futures, as they will one day become the leaders of our

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