Sunday, March 11, 2012

Do kids belong in detention? Or small regional centers?


Do kids belong in a juvenile detention center, or should they be placed in smaller regional centers? That is the question that I am asking you. Some people may feel that kids regardless of age should be locked up in juvenile centers. But is that going to help the kids in the long run? Is that going to help society? I do know one thing; having kids in juvenile detention centers eats up a lot of tax payers’ dollars.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle stated this quote “blow…up” the juvenile detention centers. She is in favor of housing trouble kids in smaller regional centers. Also, Earl Dunlap, Chief of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center on the west side of Chicago has said that juvenile detention centers should be closed down.

Here are two people with prestigious positions both arguing that juvenile detention centers should be closed down. Preckwinkle has stated that one of the main reasons detention centers are still in effect is the fact is where else are the kids going to be housed? There are hundreds of kids in detention centers; and a lot of those kids cannot return home to their families. Their families may not want to take them back in. I do believe that smaller regional facilities can be a change of scenery and may benefit the kids, but I am not one to make that decision. What do you guys think about this?
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/11179141-418/preckwinkle-blow-up-juvenile-jail-and-put-kids-in-smaller-regional-centers.html

3 comments:

  1. I feel as if some juveniles deserve to go into detention centers. Some kids are out of hand so they need to have that kind of punishment in order for something to get through their heads. Some detentions centers don't even phase some juveniles which then I think that they should be going to higher or stricter detention center. If kids get in a laid back place as their punishment then they aren't going to learn anything!!

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  2. I'm going to go with Toni Preckwinkle on this one. Detention centers/prisons have shown ineffective. With detention, you receive more recidivism. People need rehabilitation, especially with children. We need to provide them education, role models, teach them morals, have a support system. Most of the kids in detention centers probably come from a low income, one parent household. They did not have a good childhood, maybe felt alone, scared, and used that feeling in a negative way. We should keep them in the smaller regional centers, therefore there is a little punishment, with a great amount of rehabilitation.

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  3. I also believe that each juvenile needs special needs that are not being given to them in a detention center. Although they do have a couple of pros. For one they are not with the adult population , this would really hurt them in the long run. Also the detention centers does give them a place to live that is not with their disfunctionial family's. The detention centers do little for rehabilatation (which is what we all wants). Instead something like a special program house would be better for the juveniles in order to work on their problems.

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