Bursts of Color - When Kids Make Mistakes
This week we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to touch on juvenile justice reform and invite you to learn more.
Teenagers tend to push boundaries and engage in risky behavior. My friends and I made some poor choices in high school and college that could have been disastrous. Lucky for us, when we got into trouble, adults tended to look the other way or let us off with a stern conversation. I like to think this tacit understanding worked out well for all involved: we eventually grew up, made better choices and became productive members of society.
Unfortunately, not all kids get this chance. America arrests ~700,000 children each year and locks up 53,000 of them. This is far more than any other country in the world and about 10x the per capita rate of the UK. Beyond the heavy human toll, incarcerating one teenager costs the government ~$190,000 per year, or about 8x the annual cost of public college. The good news is that we have made some progress: youth incarceration is down 50% from its peak in 2000 and some of the most brutal practices, like trying fourteen year olds as adults, have been curtailed.
Special Q&A about Juvenile Justice: March 3
If you'd like to learn more about the history of juvenile justice and what's happening now, please join us for a special one hour Q&A with youth advocate Christa Gannon at 12pm Pacific Time on Wednesday, March 3. We will share some information about Christa's org and opportunities for you to help. However, this is not a fundraiser and you will not be asked to write a check. Please RSVP here to receive the event invite and Zoom link.
About Christa and FLY
Christa Gannon is a lawyer and youth advocate who founded Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) in 2000 to help prevent juvenile crime and incarceration. Now with 70 staff and 200 volunteers, FLY serves more than 2,000 youth throughout the Bay Area each year. They are also deeply involved in helping to change the policies and practices that sustain the pipeline to prison. I first met Christa about ten years ago and have been a proud FLY admirer and supporter since then.
Ideas for Learning More and Sparking Change
Join our Q&A with Christa Gannon
Read Just Mercy or The New Jim Crow
Think and talk about juvenile crime differently
Smile at a teenager