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I read this report the other day that said in 2014, the US government arrested over 1.2 million children. I& #39;m not going to soften this statistic by calling them "juvenile offenders" or "minors". Children is what they are.
When I was younger, we lived close(ish) to the old Bonnytoun reformatory. There was this boy, James, he used to run away I think. And he would always stop at our house and my dad would let him help in the garden, give him some food, sometimes a cigarette(he was probably around 16
We wouldn& #39;t see him for a while and then eventually, James would pop back in. One day we just never saw him again.
Today I& #39;ve been thinking so much about James and all the other boys just like him.
Today I& #39;ve been thinking so much about James and all the other boys just like him.
There& #39;s this report that was published in 2008 by the Center for Justice and Crime Prevention called & #39;Learning to be Lost: Youth Crime in South Africa". And that& #39;s what it is, right? It& #39;s children learning to be lost.
Learning that the system doesn& #39;t care that they& #39;re poor, it doesn& #39;t care that they need help, it doesn& #39;t care that they are actively being shaped by the violent environments they are raised in and around.
I know this is a really heavy train of thought for a Sunday,
I know this is a really heavy train of thought for a Sunday,
But there has to be a better way.
Tomorrow Grace turns 4. This evening we hopped into bed and listened to Christmas songs and I sat there for a bit watching them sleep. I want them to live in a world where everyone has a fair chance and a second chance if they need it.
Tomorrow Grace turns 4. This evening we hopped into bed and listened to Christmas songs and I sat there for a bit watching them sleep. I want them to live in a world where everyone has a fair chance and a second chance if they need it.
A child growing up in Hanover Park, should be born with every chance for success that a child born in Claremont has. Creating seperate a society for the children we see as "bad" will only continue the perpetual cycle of reoffending (which is between 55 and 95% for South Africa).
