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Adult Prisons Essay

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Mark, age 17, is serving 13 years in the L.A. County Men’s Jail and when asked about how he felt about the situation he said, “little kid, he should be put in a program. When you send them to the pen all you making is a better criminal.” What Mark said is right criminal youth would be better off being placed in programs that help them get their life back on track, not placed into prison with a bunch of adults who have been criminals for years. A teen placed in a prison rather that a juvenile facility faces much more risk of repeating their criminal behavior and continuing down a dangerous path. When a youth is placed into an adult prison they are missing out on an important part of growing up, education. As said by Jessica Lahey, a contributing writer to New York Times and the Atlantic, "On any given day, 10,000 juveniles are housed in adult prisons and jails. These children lose more than their freedom when they enter adult prisons; they lose out on the educational and psychological benefits offered by juvenile-detention facilities." An adult prison does not have the structuring it needs to give adolescents the chance to prosper after prison. A teenager who is locked up at the age of 13 is ultimately missing out on 5 years of …show more content…

A writer for The Economist by the name of Estudillo Mary Onelia had a very strong opinion on this topic. Onella stated, “Trying minors as adults will toughen the system and hold someone responsible. Minors must be fully culpable for their behavior if we are to deter future delinquents from committing violent crimes,” however; this is not the case. Placing a juvenile in prison is not teaching them how to be lawful adults it is locking them up in a building where they are exposed to older criminals whom will not set them on a successful

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