A sixteen-year-old man 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 was beaten, starved and tortured during his imprisonment. After being released, the young man hanged himself after suffering from depression and thoughts of his imprisonment (Moseley par.4). Two million children are arrested each year in the United States, and more children are incarcerated here than in any other country, by a ratio of five to one (Stamm par.8). Juvenile detention centers are ineffective because they do not provide emotional support, they do not create a strategic plan to help children when they are released, and they do not treat children like they matter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Juvenile detention centers do not provide emotional support. One research article states: “The real problem is that when we rehabilitate children, what happens is that seven out of ten do not reoffend. In other words, they don't commit other crimes, they don't have victims, they aren't in front of a judge – seven out of ten. But when you just incarcerate...seven times out of ten, you're going to have a child who's going to be in front of a judge again and eventually back 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 to being talked to and supported rather than punished and confined. Dimon explains: “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 thoughts, paranoia, anxiety and anger.” Children's brains are still developing and solitary confinement can have a detrimental impact on their growth process. This simple social and physical existence makes many young people feel doomed and abandoned, or in some cases, suicidal, and can lead to serious physical and emotional consequences (Kysel 2). Being in solitary confinement makes young people feel hopeless and can lead to serious emotional damage. Juvenile centers prefer to throw children into solitary confinement instead of helping them overcome their emotions. Suicide rates in juvenile detention centers are more than four times higher than those for adolescents overall. Suicide is even more likely among adolescents confined in solitary confinement (Hayes 4). According to a national survey conducted in 2012, approximately ten percent of youth in juvenile facilities reported experiencing sexual violence by staff members or a peer. How can children improve and learn from their mistakes if they are abused by those who are supposed to help them? The chart below shows how many juveniles are incarcerated in the United States for non-violent crimes and placed in solitary confinement. This information is important because it shows how children who do not pose a threat are punished in ways that will cause even more emotional damage. This data confirms that juvenile detention centers do not provide emotional support, as more than half of children have been isolated for more than twenty-four hours at a time for simple crimes such as running away. In conclusion, this quantity ofEmotional distress can distract children from focusing on their behavior upon release. Juvenile detention centers do not create a strategic plan to help children upon release. Sending children to prison reduces their chances of completing high school and increases their chances of being incarcerated as adults. According to recent studies, "people incarcerated as juveniles are 39 percent less likely to be incarcerated. They are high school graduates and are 41 percentage points more likely to have entered an adult prison before age of 25 years compared to other students in public schools in the same neighborhood” (A. Aizer 3). This shows the significant negative effect of juvenile detention centers on a child's success later in life. Sending children to prison can affect their chances of finding employment, which will encourage them to engage in criminal activities. In this article, the author states that "the second way in which juvenile incarceration can negatively affect human capital accumulation is by interrupting high school completion and reducing years of schooling, thereby significantly reducing the future wages in the labor market and increasing future criminal activity” (A. Aizer 4). If people are unable to find employment and earn money legally, it is very likely that they will engage in illegal activities to earn a living. Children sent to prison are more likely to be incarcerated again in the future than children who are not incarcerated. Studies show that incarcerated young offenders were 67 percent more likely to be (again) in prison by age 25 than similar young offenders who did not go to prison (Beauchamp par. 5). Juvenile detention centers should keep children out of prison and encourage them not to reoffend, but prison does just the opposite. This shows that juvy is not beneficial for a child and does more harm than good. It is important to note that constantly being placed in an environment of crime does not give children the security of knowing that they have a chance to succeed in life. Juvenile detention centers don't treat children like they matter. Children need a structured environment where they are constantly monitored and advised. Finkel says, "The research was clear: Placing all children who 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 probability that they will meet again. serving their sentences and would torpedo any chance they had to change their lives” (Finkel par. 7). Children should be placed in an environment that welcomes them and encourages them to want to do better. In another article, Conniff talks about his experience visiting prison. He said: “A few children are lying limply on mats placed on the ground. A chubby white boy calmly brushes his teeth and stares into space. “He’s doing great,” the guard told me in the control booth” (Conniff 3). Children were lying on the ground and a minor was behaving strangely. The guard says he's fine. This shows that children are not treated as people and are obviously not taken care of. Children placed in adult facilities face more dangerous risks. This article states: "Following an increase in juvenile delinquency in the late 1980s and early 1990s, 'tough on crime' policies led to an increase in the number of children tried as adults and.