Juvenile justice must be a safe refuge for young children whose lives need to be sorted out so that proper treatment can be applied to the erring ways of the children. That is why Kenneth Wooden’s Weeping in the Playtime of Others: America’s Incarcerated Children is an enlightening read on the problems encountered in juvenile prisons.
The story accounts for the life of a boy who is considered borderline retarded, with an IQ of about 80. He has been making the rounds of institutions that supposedly are after his care and welfare but who suffer abuse in the process and whose life improves nevertheless because of the love and care of others. He is loved unconditionally by his girlfriend who is instrumental in tutoring him in school. Thus, this boy is able to hurdle the odds and become the author of the book himself. This is revealed in his text as he states, “I know this story is true because that boy is the author of this book.”
As I read the story, I am amazed at how the author transcends all the sufferings thrown his way. I also think that the difficulties with fluency, speech and language impairments, dialect differences, as well as poor short-term memory, lack/poor use of strategies, difficulties related to prior knowledge, failure to apply relevant information, application of irrelevant prior knowledge, lack of reading engagement and other factors are alerting educators to the existence of language-learning problems that may afflict everyone but need not mean a low IQ.
During the past decades, America witnessed a continuous increase in its crime rate. However, the cause of greater concern is that crimes committed by minors, both violent and non-violent offenses also reached exorbitant numbers as compared with the previous decades. The reform measure taken by most states is called the ‘blended sentencing’. Prior to this, judges had limited options. When dealing with a child accused of a serious felony, a child can either retain the case at juvenile court or he/she pass it over to the adult system. Blended sentences on the other hand allow a judge to simultaneously impose a juvenile disposition and an adult sentence.
Traditionally, the juvenile justice system is centered on rehabilitation. Part of the principle is that the child convicted in this court will not receive the same harsher punitive standards and sentences administered in adult criminal court. With the blended sentence, “the youth convicted of a crime will be sentenced to time in the juvenile justice sentence and then once he is older will be transferred to the adult system if authorities decide he should not be released” (Pierce)
Young men in communities join gangs because it makes sense. It is a rational way of getting a larger share of the things they want in an environment of chronic scarcity and deprivation. Young men in inner cities want many of the same things that other Americans do: money respect and a sense of security. But their social situation makes these resources hard to obtain. American society has created ghettos for members of ethnic minorities, and ghettos offer few legitimate ways to fulfill ordinary wants. Gangs try to circumvent this problem. They attempt to create an effective social organization to deal with the pressure and challenges of living in some of the most difficult circumstances in American society. Thus, for Kenneth, the environment he was in had an influence on his truancy but there was a realization on his part nevertheless.
People do complain, though, including people in the gang’s neighborhood. Church and community development groups often argue that gangs stand in the way of community progress, not only because they increase levels of violence but also because the money they take often comes from the community and goes for the gangs’ private purposes. These criticism of gangs are sometimes greater in African-American communities, where gangs are somewhat likelier to be separated from other community organizations and to engage in high levels of violence, such as drive-by shootings. In Hispanic communities, in contrast, gangs have been more closely integrated into other social institutions, and their violence, therefore, has been somewhat more restrained.
Intervention in cases of children like Kenneth is the factoring-in of the specific diagnosis of a child into the way that particular case must be approached. This means working along with the physicians and other practitioners in the field of special education. The second term, Instruction, might be described as the way in which most classrooms today and yesterday have been facilitated by the teacher. The third one, the Support Frame, is one that does not cater exclusively to ordinary children or children with special needs. The Support Frame is one that may be characterized as a personalized modality of teaching. It is the mode of tuning in to the special needs or interests of the child.
Author Nell emphasizes the assessment and intervention in the areas that can cause reading comprehension difficulties. This would entail becoming familiar with the specific condition of a child and making adjustments to this child’s needs. Although she made no further reference on how to make such adjustments, it is implicit that when she introduces her strategies into the class they are in the form of activities that might be termed hybrid, activities that almost have the feel of playing.
In sum, Wooden transcends all boundaries and finds refuge in love despite the hurts that he suffered in his childhood.
References
Pierce, Ray. “Groupsmulls blended terms for young offenders.” Arkansas Democrat. 2008. Web.
Wooden, Kenneth. Weeping in the Playtime of Others: America’s Incarcerated. Children Ohio State University Press. 200.