Dangerous minds

 

I toured the local juvenile detention center in Cincinnati with several co-workers. It was a massive facility with over 150 beds. All that stood between us and the residents was a large metal detector and security.

Little gangsters wore either red or blue jumpsuits. Apparently, no one was trying to make a fashion statement. Staff members immediately confiscate all personal items from each offender as they are processed.

Visitation is limited to either a legal guardian or a parent. None of the residents have an X-Box, PlayStation or baseball cards. They make their own beds, clean their rooms, and attend classes. If residents comply, they can earn privileges like watching television.

A life of hardship awaits the juveniles who choose to become hoodlums and wannabe gangsters. Many of these youths will learn from their mistakes and never return while others eventually end up in prison. According to court records, delinquencies in Hamilton County doubled between 1980 and 2000. In 1980, the center handled nearly 10,000 delinquency cases and in 2000, they handled over 19,000 cases.

Juvenile crimes committed in 2000 included:

• 16 Homicides;

• 215 Sexual offenses;

• 287 Robberies,

• 544 Burglaries;

• 1,224 Drug offenses; and

• 1,371 assault cases.

The statistics are staggering when you realize that children have committed these crimes. Many of them should have been at home either playing video games or watching cartoons. They shouldn’t be living in a detention center. One staff member said she had spent twenty years working with delinquent children. She has witnessed youth crimes escalate from petty theft to drug trafficking and murder.

I wondered “where are the parents?”

After the tour, I shared the sordid details with my sons. They both agreed it wasn’t a place they ever wanted to visit.

The tour reminded me of how vulnerable our children are to the evils of society. Today’s children live in a far more dangerous world than most of us knew as children. Our children are consistently exposed to terrorism, murder, and school shootings.

As parents, we must fight daily to protect our children and steer them away from the juvenile system — it’s a war worth winning.