Why does children need to criminalize themselves before they can get a legal defence

This week two girls ran from a correctional boarding school in Georgia. They assaulted a lonely night staff member and took the car. The police got involved and it resulted in damage to a lot of property.

Now the girls are resting at the Lumpkin County Detention Center waiting for a trial where they are charged with aggravated assault, armed robbery, second degree criminal damage to property and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and armed robbery.

It is first now where they have hurt another person, done damage to property that they get what most people consider a basic human right. The right to a legal defense based on their actions.

They saw no lawyer before they were forced from their home to this school or even worse to a wilderness program as a step before entering the school. Wilderness programs which have claimed the lives of teenagers both in 2009 and 2010.

They saw no lawyer before they was denied communication with their peers back home or maybe even parts of their extended family who may not have agreed with the detention their parents had decided on.

Why are we pushing these kids into a corner where they see no other alternative to react in such a violent nature that the society have to charge them and supply them with a criminal record?

It is far from the first incident. Turn-about Ranch recognized from the Dr. Phil show did experience two staff members being beat up by three teenagers in 1994.

A case which caught national attention was when 3 pregnant teenagers escaped New Hope Maternity Home beating up the wife of the director as they feared that they would have become a part of the many adoption schemes which had been operating in the United States the last 3 decades.

However many of these cases are never known for the public. In the case from Georgia the boarding school did not report the assault. Why? They had a hurt employee!

The answer are simple: The parents pay for a product. They fear that the lifestyle of their child would end up in a criminal record at one point. In a society where 1 percent of the entire population is locked up in prison, this is a real risk. The school did choose to put the product over the safety of their employee. One employee to guard an entire dorm in a school that can house hundred of teenagers. It is close to neglect by it self!

So they order a pre-emptive arrest of their own child. They order a private youth transportation firm to collect their child in their own home in handcuffs and legirons. Then the child is sent to a remotely located boarding school if they are so lucky that they can avoid the boarding school.

No lawyer - no right to a trial - no defence.

And the worst part is that the supreme court has given parents this right if they just see to one thing. Every restraint, every physical force used against their child has to be done by a hired person. First then it is legal. If parents put their own child in handcuffs and force them to go, the parents will go to prison.

But for the child the abuse must seem to be the same. It doesn't matter who is doing this to them.

All kind of advice given by the parents are lost:

"Do not walk with strangers." Well when they cuff you on command by us parents, it is OK.

"We will protect you against all evil". Then you like poor Aaron Bacon, Sergey Blashchishen, Shanice Nibbs and many others die out in the desert where is the truth in this statement?

We are forcing these kids to violence when we neglect them in such a way.

There is no other solution than to get the Supreme court to reconsider their ruling and demand that every child has a right to a hearing at their local social services before they are removed from their home and sent to a boarding school, boot camp or wilderness program.

Every person should be entitled to a legal defense before they are removed from our society. Also and especially a child.

References:
Students charged with assault, robbery of teacher, By Matt Aiken, The Dahlonega Nugget, December 1, 2010
3 teens sentenced for beating 2 counselors, Deseret News, Aug. 27, 1994
3 Pregnant Teens Attack Utah Group Home Director With Frying Pan, Flee in Stolen Van, FoxNews, January 19, 2007

Tell your boarding school story

You are now a young adult. You know where you came from. You know what your story is. But can you tell it?

Minors in residential placement research center has started a blog where you can tell your story.

A stay in a residential setting has its positive and negative sides. You meet a lot of people you would never have met if you had remained at home. Being a part of a peer group 24/7 in a restricted environment means that there is a price to pay. You know that you in order to survive have to fit in. You have to remove some of the personality which makes you an individual.

Then there of course are the rules of residential facility. They can be tough, they can be relaxed. Some of the rules were hard to justify. The reason for them may have been impossible to live under. Some made sense now where you are able to look back at them.

How did the stay impact you? Did it open some doors or did it close some? Does your family understand what you went through?

The Swedish organization want to hear your story and they want you to write one of their representatives on this address: jonase(a)mail-online.dk

The blog itself can you read here:

Tales from the black school

Sweden has its problems of its own

We have been in contact with a small Non-govermental organization called "Minors in residential placement research center".

The organization was founded by officials working in public positions around Sweden. They prefer not to show their names.

Some Danes might remember the name Sofie Lohede. The Danish magazine called Ude & Hjemme did print her story some years ago.

It is a rather tragic story about a teenager from Sweden who did suffer from some emotional problems which led her family to reach out to the authorities for help. The so-called help they got was to send young Miss Lohede to a group home which practiced a special kind of supervision.

The older and more street-wise girls at the group home lured the then 14 year old girl out in town and there she was molested by a middel aged man.

Her family discovered that something was wrong and took her home. She confessed that she had been raped and had to testify against the man. Unfortunately she was so afraid of him that she did choose to end her life instead of confronting him in court. He was convicted to only 3 years based on evidence and a similar treatment of another girl.

The website also include a story of another girl and some legal articles.

They have promised to help us making people aware of the existense of the Academy at Sisters where we are involved in keeping a young girl from Hillsboro home and in freedom.

We will pray that we can enable our combined resources in the future.

Reference:
Minors in residential placement research center