A sixteen-year-old male was wrongly arrested after being accused of stealing a backpack. He was never convicted of the crime, but spent nearly three years on Riker's Island. He suffered beatings, starvation and torture while in prison. After being released, the young man hanged himself after suffering from depression and the thought of his imprisonment (Moseley par.4). Two million children are arrested every year in the United States and more children are incarcerated here than in any other nation by a ratio of five to one (Stamm par.8). Juvenile detention centers are ineffective because they do not offer emotional support, do not create a strategic plan to help children when they are released, and do not treat them as if they matter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Juvenile detention centers do not offer emotional support. One research article states, “The real benefit is that when we rehabilitate kids, what happens is you end up having 7 out of 10 kids who don't reoffend.” In other words, they don't commit another crime, they don't create victims, they're not in front of a judge - seven out of 10. But when we just incarcerate... seven times out of 10 you end up having a child who's going back in front of a judge and the end up in prison' (Stamm par.11). When children receive treatment instead of being thrown in prison, they are less likely to commit another crime than when they are incarcerated. This shows that children respond better when they are talked about and supported rather than when they are punished and locked up. Dimon says, “Solitary confinement involves isolating inmates in cells barely larger than a king-size bed for 22 to 24 hours a day. It causes profound neurological and psychological damage, causing depression, hallucinations, panic attacks, cognitive deficits, obsessive thinking, paranoia, anxiety and anger.” Children's brains are still developing and isolation can have a detrimental impact on their growth process. This bare social and physical existence causes many young people to feel condemned and abandoned, or in some cases, suicidal, and can lead to serious physical and emotional consequences (Kysel 2). Being in isolation makes the young person feel hopeless and can lead to serious emotional damage. Youth centers prefer to put children in solitary confinement instead of helping them overcome their emotions. Suicide rates in juvenile detention facilities are more than four times higher than among adolescents overall. Suicide is even more likely for adolescents confined to solitary confinement (Hayes 4). According to a national survey conducted in 2012, approximately 10 percent of youth in juvenile institutions reported sexual victimization by staff members or a peer. How can children improve themselves and learn from their mistakes if they are attacked by the people who are supposed to help them? The chart below shows how many juveniles are incarcerated in the United States for nonviolent crimes and held in solitary confinement. This information is important because it shows how children who pose no threat are punished in ways that will do more emotional harm. This data supports the fact that juvenile detention centers do not offer emotional support because more than half of the children have been isolated for more than twenty-four consecutive hours for simple crimes such as running away from home. Ultimately, this amount of emotional distress can distract children from focusing on their behavior when they are released. Juvenile detention centers do not create a strategic plan to help children when they are released. Send kids to prisonit reduces their chances of finishing high school and increases their chances of being incarcerated as adults. According to recent studies, “those incarcerated as juveniles are 39 percent less likely to graduate from high school and are 41 percentage points more likely to enter adult prison by age 25 than other public school students in the country. same neighborhood” (A. Aizer 3). This demonstrates the significant negative effect that juvenile detention centers have on a child's success later in life. Sending children to prison can affect their chances of finding a job and this will encourage them to engage in criminal activity. In this article the author states that “The second way that juvenile incarceration can negatively affect human capital accumulation is by disrupting high school completion and reducing years of education, thus significantly reducing future labor market wages and increasing future criminal activity” (A. Aizer 4). If people cannot find work and earn money legally, it is very likely that they will become involved in illegal activities to earn a living. Children who are sent to juvenile hall are more likely to end up back in prison in the future than children who are not incarcerated. Studies show that incarcerated young offenders were 67% more likely to be in prison (again) at age 25 than similar young offenders who did not go to prison (Beauchamp par. 5). Juvenile detention centers should keep kids out of prison and encourage them not to reoffend, but instead prison is doing the exact opposite. This shows that juvy reform is not beneficial for a child and does more harm than good. Significantly, constantly being in a criminal environment does not give children the confidence to know that they have a chance to succeed in life. Juvenile detention centers don't treat children like they matter. Children need a structured environment in which they are constantly observed and counseled. Finkel states, "The research was clear: Putting all kids who had committed a crime, even if their crime was minor and they posed little or no threat to public safety, in a locked, crowded detention center increased the chance that they would end up serving their sentence, and it would destroy any chance they had of changing their lives” (Finkel par. 7). another article, Conniff talks about his experience visiting a prison. He says: “A couple of children lie limply on mats on the floor. He is placidly brushing his teeth and staring into space. the guard in the control booth tells me” (Conniff 3). The children were lying on the ground and a young man was acting strangely and the guard says he is fine. This shows that the children are not treated like people and are obviously not looked after . Children placed in adult facilities are exposed to more dangerous risks. This article states that “following the increase in youth crime in the late 1980s and early 1990s, 'crime hardening' policies led to an increase in the number of children tried as adults and interned in adult facilities. Such contexts can be harmful to adolescents. Juveniles may be at greater risk of rape, assault and suicide when locked up in adult prisons. Numerous studies show, however, that those who are transferred to adult facilities are more likely to.