Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/category/ideas-and-opinions/page/12/)
In America we are young, tired and traumatized. We are tired of validating our space, our existence and the reason why we should have a seat at the table. Youth are continuously ignored, dismissed and unheard. Stereotyping youth as “too young” or “not experienced enough” has been a consistent strategy to devalue the movements that we create. Youth are dying.
Why are we so shocked in this country after witnessing a black man being killed? Is it because of the way he was killed? I feel that this time people seem to be more aware of the problems that run deep into the soul of this country, and of how black and brown people are treated on a daily basis because of the color of their skin.
It is hard to imagine that three weeks ago the chief concern among youth advocates, as well as juvenile justice agencies across the country, continued to be how to keep young people in locked facilities safe from the spread of COVID-19.
If you’re still following along in this series on the problems with plea bargaining in the juvenile justice system, then hopefully you agree that plea bargaining should be eliminated or substantially modified in how it’s applied.
Be it with outrage or eye-rolling, most of us were confounded by the spectacle of college students indulging in spring break rituals — where social distancing is definitely not on the cocktail listing.
We remember thinking just a few weeks before COVID-19 that everything was all just too much. There was too much on the schedule, we needed to be in three places at once, and everything and everyone was demanding our undivided attention.
Children in juvenile hall have food security and shelter, unlike many of us. COVID-19 has stolen these basics from countless among us, including families of kids in custody. Worry is constant. Routines are disrupted. Our elders are likely isolated from loved ones.
Teens On Target (TNT) is a leadership development program at Youth ALIVE!, Oakland, Calif.’s anchor agency for violence prevention, intervention and healing. Through TNT, teens from two high schools in the Oakland neighborhoods hardest hit by gun violence teach student-designed violence prevention workshops at middle schools across the city.
The fast-moving COVID-19 pandemic is shining a light on the vulnerability of youth in our nation’s approximately 2,000 juvenile correctional facilities who face daily threats to their safety and well-being.
Art is subversive. It has a history of undermining the status quo and of transforming perceptions.