Despite the cost of tax increases every year, providing more and more prisons, we still find that the problem is only subsided temporarily. More often than we imagine, the “at risk youth” is arrested for a petty crime that permits him a visit to juvenile hall, there its tenants eagerly await him, only to convert the petty thief to an “authentic” criminal.
Whoever coined the old saying “crime doesn’t pay,” didn’t have the foresight of the Private Industrialized Prison Complex. While schools are overcrowded, and lacking adequate learning materials, prisons are being built at an accelerated record rate.
The State of California alone houses approximately 216,000 inmates and is currently building 60,000 more beds to be up and running by 2024. Granted that it cost $55,000 a year to house one inmate, and over 30,000 of these inmates are serving a life sentence, that’s $9.6 Billion a year.
We can either allow crime and incarceration to devour our youth, which is our future, or we can get involved with our community and make a change. It is time for change!
What Chances Do Our Youth Have In Today’s Society?
Leading the world in industry, and entertainment, these United States also has the highest crime and murder rate in the world. We also lead in homelessness, drug abuse, domestic violence, divorce, and a long list of other unsavory behaviors. Psychologically we are at our wits ends, or for some of us we’re walking around in a daze. Ignoring that our society is crumbling right before our eyes.
Our children deal with adult issues, they are forced to accept the responsibility of adults. Children raising children, unable to enjoy the precious years of innocence. We allow the entertainment media to dictate what today’s morals and ethics are. Yet we encourage them to stay on course, but we seem to forget that not having the proper navigation causes them to become victims on the highway of life. We must educate our youth of the danger and consequences of making bad choices, and how easy it is to get lost in the traffic of a fast paced world.
Detours Mentoring Group has the trained and dedicated individuals who grew up in the community with many diverse life experiences and have successfully turned their lives around from crime, gangs, and drug addiction. These individuals behind the program are teaching the youth the importance of, family education and personal values.
