According a story released by ABC News Primetime, the State of Missouri is setting a nation wide standard of the way juvenile jails should be operated. http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Missouri-sets-standard-juvenile-detention/Story?
Missouri is showing great success in how their "juvenile jails are operated." According to the story, about 10% of the children who have went through Missouri's "system" have went on to serve sentences in adult prisons. That's considerably lower than the national average of 40% of children who move on to the adult prisons.
Missoouri attributes some of their success to the way the kids are treated. In Missouri's system, the kids are not housed behind bars with constant guard. Instead the kids live in colorfully painted dorms with posters with postive messages on the walls. Also the kids are in intensive group and individual therepy. According to state officials, once the children arrive at the residential facilities, they are immediatley shown that facility are a place that they can feel safe. The kids are also given something that many of them have never received before. That something is a hug. For some kids this is the first time these kids have been shown this kind of positive affection.
After reading this story I felt Missouri is doing a great job with these kids. These kids who don't have the parents that care enough about them to take care of them or to show them the difference between right and wrong now have a positive source to guide them into the future. The sad thing is it has to be the State of Missouri that has to be the parent to these kids instead of the biological parents. However, at least these kids have a positive source to get the help that they desperately need.
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I recently had to attend Anger Management classes. One thing I learned is that most people use anger to hide their emotions, such as sadness or pain. Most kids are taught that it is not ok to cry or show emotion but that it is ok to show anger. One of the other people in the class made a suggestion that we start giving these classes to children to teach them how to deal with their emotions effectively without anger. Again, something that I know my parents were not able to teach me.
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