Teen Brains and Juvenile Justice

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A series of Supreme Court decisions is changing the direction of juvenile justice.  A report in the American Bar Association Journal digs into the impact of the Graham v. Florida ruling last May, and Roper v. Simmons from five years ago. Graham bars life-without-parole sentences for teens convicted of anything short of homicide. Roper bans the death penalty for children.  Both decisions were influenced by new research in developmental psychology and neuroscience that reveals how kids’ brains are different from adults’ brains when it comes to impulse control, decision-making and risk-taking. Researchers also maintain teenagers are more capable of long-term change than are adults. Reporter Bryan Stevenson talks with researchers, including Dr. Laurence Steinberg at Temple University, who "likens the teenage brain to a car with a powerful gas pedal and weak brakes. While the gas pedal responsible for things like emotional arousal and susceptibility to peer pressure is fully developed, the brakes that permit long-term thinking and resistance to peer pressure need work.”

Not everyone is on board.

Big Brother to Watch Kids in School

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Police in Pennsylvania will soon be watching live feeds from wireless school security cameras. The Franklin Regional school District has 128 cameras in five schools.  Murrysville Police will be able to watch those cameras online, plus access floor plans in an emergency.  The fire department and Emergency Management Office will also have access through a secure server.  The system, funded by a $100,000 grant, is expected to go live next January. Parents are concerned the live camera feeds might be used by police to watch their children without cause, or do surveillance.  The story in Government Technology Magazine does not fully address legal and privacy issues, or what steps will be taken to prevent hackers from tapping into the system.  But the school district is expected to create policies on who will have access to the server and when.  All access will be tracked and monitored.  And school officials say the system will not be linked to student records or personnel information.

79% of Students are Bullied

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79% of students in middle school and high school across the nation say they have been bullied.  63% of these students were bullied once or twice a year. 7% were bullied every day. This is according to a 2007 report by the National Center for Education Statistics.  Girls were 3% more likely to be bullied at school then boys. Only 36% of students who were victimized notified a teacher or another trusted adult.

Get Heard

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The National Conference on Juvenile and Family Law is looking for presenters.  If you have a cutting edge program, or something to say about juvenile delinquency, family law, substance abuse, child abuse and other topics of interest to juvenile and family court professionals, you can apply to be a presenter.  The deadline for proposals is September 15.  The conference is set for March 27-17 in Reno, NV.  Send questions to Diane Barnette, Director, Conference Planning and Marketing:  dbarnette@ncjfcj.org. This conference does not pay speakers for travel or lodging, and there are no honorariums. But  the NCJFCJ will waive the one-day registration fee for a speaker, and it does offer a reduced rate for the rest of the conference. To apply, click here.

Child Prostitutes: Criminals or Victims?

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SB 304, the bill to treat child prostitutes as victims rather than criminals, may have failed in the last session, but supporters have vowed to revive it. The new campaign is apparently underway. 

The latest round comes from Jonathan Todres, a law professor at Georgia State and advisor to ECPAT-USA (End Chld Prostitution and Trafficking).  He writes about a ruling by the Texas Supreme Court, involving a 13 year old caught with her 32 year old boyfriend and arrested for prostitution. The court said a child under the age of consent cannot be criminally charged with prostitution. Professor Todres argues that child prostitutes should be treated as victims of exploitation not as criminals, and they need help. Read his new opinion in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. There is no indication that conservative Christian groups have changed their position opposing this plan. As Dale Austin from Concerned Women for America of Georgia argued last Spring, they believe it would decriminalize prostitution, create a friendly environment for pimps and traffickers, and remove all discretion by juvenile court judges on how to handle child prostitutes.

Atlanta’s War on Child Prostitution

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Atlanta’s battle against child prostitution and sex trafficking is getting national attention, and so is the broad coalition of groups that are fighting the problem. The campaign called A Future Not a Past, which studies commercial sex exploitation of girls in Georgia, is winning funds and converts across the nation. Sojourners Magazine reports The Women’s Funding Network is modeling similar campaigns in Michigan, Minnesota and New York. Writer Letitia Campbell takes us through the history of the movement and what’s next in the battle.

Teen Gangs in 2008: Stats

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32.4 percent of towns, counties and rural areas around the nation reported problems with teen gangs in 2008. The number of gangs rose 28% over the past six years according to a recent report from the OJJDP.  Gang-related crime and violence, including aggravated assaults, drug sales and firearm use increased. In cities with more than 250,000 people, gang-related homicides rose by 10%.

New Rules: Isolation, Handcuffs, Hogties

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Schools cannot put children in seclusion rooms as a form of punishment anymore, and must limit the use of physical and chemical restraints. The State Board of Education approved new rules Thursday for handcuffing children, controlling them with prone restraint tactics, and giving them prescription drugs to control their behavior. These measures are now limited to situations where students are an immediate danger to themselves or others, or when calming techniques don’t work. Parents of 13-year old Jonathon King of Gainesville pushed for changes after their son hanged himself in a seclusion room in 2004. Jonathan was a student in the Alpine Program, a public school in Gainesville, Ga.

New Alarm on Robo Tripping

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There are new warnings about the dangers facing teens who get high on cough medicine.  CNN reports that children are showing up in hospital emergency rooms after mixing cough medicines with stimulants, such as energy drinks and prescription drugs that treat ADHD.  The symptoms include hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat and numbness in hands and feet. The Partnership for a Drug Free America reports that 1 in 11 teens admits to Robo tripping.  The high comes from taking very large doses of OTC medicines that contain dextromethorphan, an active ingredient in more than 125 cold and cough medicines, including Robitussin.  Kids also call the practice Dexing, Skittling, and DXM-ing. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says high doses of dextromethorphan, or DXM, affect the same parts of the brain targeted by ketamine or PCP.  These are considered “dissociative” drugs, which make people feel disconnected from their normal selves.  The effect of DXM is similar. Click here to listen to teens describe their experiences with Robo tripping.

School Sued for Handcuffing Child

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A first grader in New Orleans is the new poster child for excessive school discipline.  The boy, identified as J.W., was arrested, handcuffed and allegedly shackled to a desk by school police after arguing with another child over a seat in the lunchroom.   The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a class action lawsuit Thursday in Federal Court, claiming the arrest for a minor violation of school rules is unlawful and a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.   Read the complaint here. The complaint names the elementary school principal, school superintendent and security director, and was filed on behalf of all children in the school.  SPLC Attorney Thena Robinson says, "We’re hopeful this [lawsuit] will send a powerful message. We have to treat kids with dignity.  There are ways to keep kids safe and treat them with dignity." The boy’s father, Sebastian Weston, says his son was treated like an animal is now terrified of school.   Watch his statement in this video from WWL-TV

A spokesman for the Recovery School District confirms the incident happened May 6, and two security officers were fired, but would not comment further.