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DCRealEstateAgent t1_j9z14mi wrote

Reply to comment by DC_Sun in Opinion | Is D.C. juvenile justice a revolving door? We need to know. by Maxcactus

Yea, definitely agree. But the issue is that this is infectious. So kids see and mimic.

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ehenning1537 t1_j9z5wgh wrote

I imagine part of the issue is the literal hell they live their lives in. Years ago I clerked for the Superior Court of Georgia and spent some time in their juvenile court system. The single biggest predicting factor for delinquency was lack of support from their caregivers and their broader community. For most, their single caregiver worked two jobs or had several other children to manage. Many didn’t even have an adult to be present in court. Most kids were poor but not all of them. Most were black but also not all of them. They were just about all kids who had pretty shitty lives. They weren’t working towards college or looking forward to the rest of their lives. They knew they were screwed already. Eventually they snap and have an aggressive outburst in class or they challenge police. I think it’s just to feel like they can be in control of just one moment of their own lives. Like they can have some kind of effect, even if it’s negative.

When their lives have so little hope and everyone in their immediate surroundings are either violent towards them or trying to take something from them it shouldn’t be a surprise when some of DC’s kids act the way they do.

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app_priori t1_j9zbtk5 wrote

Yeah. It's such a nuanced situation that needs a holistic solution that requires resources that people aren't willing to expend.

You cannot just shower these communities with money, a lot of these communities also require a degree of mentorship and lots of social workers too.

It's going to be tough to break the cycle.

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DCRealEstateAgent t1_j9zc9i9 wrote

True. And from a school and Covid angle, we all felt and saw how many kids were home alone at very young ages because their parents were the mandatory workers in the city - police, fire, etc. It’s definitely a huge issue.

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rewindpaws t1_j9zl4zz wrote

This was a really insightful post on a hard topic, thank you.

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