What every parent should know about our juvenile justice system « MomsRising Blog

What every parent should know about our juvenile justice system « MomsRising Blog:

What every parent should know about our juvenile justice system

Posted July 12th, 2013 by Sarah Bryer

I’m one of those moms who sees danger in every corner.  I check for ticks, apply sun screen, and make sure my child is buckled into her car seat.  I take it as my personal responsibility to ensure her safety.  This taking of responsibility is a theme for our family.  When my daughter messes up, I make sure she takes responsibility for her actions and try to help her do the right thing the next time.  One important way I do this is to teach her to treat others as she herself wants to be treated.  That’s a golden rule in our household — and it’s central to the work I do, as well.

Let me explain.  I’ve spent the last 20 years in efforts to get our justice system to respond to lawbreaking in a way that would feel fair if I or my child were the ones standing in front of the judge.  Twenty years is a long time. Clearly, I feel deeply about this work, but I have to say that being a mom has ratcheted up my fervor for change to a new level.   You see, it wasn’t until I had a kid that I truly felt the excruciating pain of what we do in the name of justice, punishment, and rehabilitation to our nation’s youth.

What do we do?  Well for starters, we take children, some as young as eight, and rip them from their moms, dads, siblings, school, communities and supports and lock

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