Solitary Confinement Letter

Dear Government,
     After learning about how youth prisoners are treated in American prisons, I believe there are a few changes that could be made to improve the system, pertaining to solitary confinement.  First of all, there is no reason to have youth and adult convicts in the same prison.  There should be two separate facilities, one for children and one for adults.  These two types of prisoners should never come in contact with each other unless it is a supervised visit.  Once the two facilities are distinguishable from one another, I think that the use of solitary confinement should be dependent on the severity of their crime.  The only time a youth should be put in solitary is if they were convicted of murder, rape or any charge that would keep them imprisoned for over 25 years.  Even in these cases, the length of confinement should never exceed two weeks.  These people deserve punishment but also need a chance to be rehabilitated.  However, children with mental illness should never be put in solitary.  These people must be given help so that they can at least understand their crime and understand why they are being punished.  These people should be treated with care so that they can gain more sufficient morals so that when they are released they can help the world instead of hurting it even more.  Solitary confinement use on the youth should not be a common practice, but should be used only in specific cases.  When the need for solitary confinement presents itself, the time should be limited to two weeks at most.  Juvenile detention centers should be a place to help troubled youth grow into mature adults that view the world in a positive light, not a place that makes them angry with the world and all its inhabitants.  If these kids are angry when they leave the prison, who is to say they will not return later in life due to an ever harsher crime.  Our prison system needs to help the youth instead of hurting them with solitary confinement.

     Sincerely, 

     Concerned Student               

Letter to the Government

Dear Government,

Putting youth in solitary confinement isn't something that ought to be used at an extreme. Twenty-two to twenty-four hours in confinement is far too long to be healthy, especially at such a crucial stage of development. People think that being set alone is giving that person time to sit and think about what they did and set themselves straight but it doesn't work like that. In confinement I think most people would only think of their own terror, the injustice of being forced to be alone. It's something that's just not right, no matter what someone did. It can scramble someone mentally--people can come out with a whole lot of different emotions, things like ire over the experience, or be so shaken up that they are no longer who they were before. Solitary confinement can also produce things like phobias into people's lives. To me, I see it like an advertised pill: it's possible it can treat your problems, but the possible effects on your health aren't worth the risk. Solitary confinement isn't something that can be given like a jail sentence. I feel as if it could be useful, if given a couple hours a day, or something in that light. But not twenty four seven, not every day of the week for months. Years. Setting people in and thinking it to be a good way to reform behaviours ought be a crime. It's mentally and emotionally degrading someone with something that's supposed to be beneficial for them and for society, and that oughtn't be the way to repress any kind of behaviour.

--A Concerned Individual

Solitary Confinement

Dear Government Official,

The idea of solitary confinement has come to my attention especially the solitary confinement of teenagers.  I am a teenager myself, and I do not think I could even go a day without some human contact let alone weeks even months.  I believe that no teenager deserves this form of punishment, no matter what they have done. This can cause serious mental and even physical health damage for a developing kid.  It also denies them access to programs such as education and treatment for mental illnesses.

Think for a second and try and imagine how it would feel to be alone for months on end, to have no human contact, to have nothing but your own thoughts.  Then imagine putting a developing child through that. Does that seem fair? I know that it is your job to punish these teens for commiting a crime but does that mean that you should torture them? Just think twice about what solitary confinement can do to a person the next time you have the decision to confine a person or not,

Thanks,
Concerned Student

Solitary Confindment Writers Workshop

Dear United States Government,

I am deeply concered about what you are doing to our youth in jail. Putting young kids in solitary confindment for 22-24 hours a day without regular positive human contact is harming them. No one should be put in a 8 by 8 room by themselves for days upon end but especailly not kids under the age of 18. At young ages people are creating memories, learning information and skills that they will be able to use for the rest of thier lives. When you put kids in solitary condfindment this stunts their growth. They are forever changed. The kids will never be able to get that time back, it will always be lost. After the kids have came out of the condfindment they say it was the worst time of their life. Many of them said that when they were in the room by themselves that they would start talking to themselves and think about taking their life. This is a thought that no one should ever have to think about especially when a major reason they are thinking these thoughts is something the government can stop. It is something you should stop. It is not human to force a human to live in a room that is 8 feet by 8 feet and only get to come out for one or two hours for three to for times a week. You should have feeling for all humans no matter what they did to break the law.

One Concerned Citizen,
Drew

Poverty Poem

Gangs Death Drugs and Fear
These are the things that I seem to hear
Living in a town where nobody works
Being born here has no perks
Today I woke thinking life was a joke
There ain't no hope when you're broke
I dropped out of school
Everyone thinks I'm a fool
I can't live like this, no one can live like this
This town is a dark scary abyss
Escape is what I need
Scared is what I am
Care is a word with no meaning
All I see is a world full of greed
Please, this way of life is one big sham
End, it's the only thing I'm seeing
Never will I wish this on anyone
Definite terror has been done 

WW On Hopelessness

Hope is a strange thing. It's something that everyone wants but it's lost so quickly. It's not a solid state; it could almost be described as a feeling, and in that case it's difficult to describe, even. Depression and similar mental strife emphasize negativity in someone's life, and through that constant negativity, people lose what hope they have. And although many people deny and try to hide their hopelessness, even more are apparent about it.
   Only lately I met a boy like that in one of my brother's classes, someone not afraid to show that he had no faith in anything. He was a sullen-faced kid, and believed the worst was always going to happen, and that nothing would ever change that. He was only five years old, but despite his age he has the mindset and attitude of an adult. I asked what happened why he was so hopeless, and to my surprise he told me. He was an orphan; his dad died of overdose and his mom killed herself and his older and younger brothers in a family suicide, leaving him with an aunt who pays him no mind. They live in molding apartment in the deepest parts of Madison, and he usually sits on the complex's front steps because his aunt doesn't like him around. He told me he'd seen theft, murders, and crimes that no one ought ever see, and he kept a straight face while telling it all. Then he said something that shocked me--although more because he was only seven, and not any older. He told me "People don't deserve to live, and  places like where I live oughtn't even exist. I wish that I could live in a better place, but there's no point of wishing 'cause it ain't ever gonna happen. I'd run away but I don't have money, and I'm no thief so I'd just rot on the highway or something. Honestly, the only thing keeping me away from the knife in my aunt's kitchen is because I don't want to be like everyone else. It's not worth living but I guess I'll see it to the end. I don't know. Maybe I'll change my mind."
   I was too speechless to respond, and he left me pondering his flat expression. Even his voice was void of emotion, but not his eyes. His eyes told me that he wanted hope, but he felt he had no reason to search for some. It's beyond heartbreaking, that a child could fall so deep into depression, could feel so hopeless stuck in their situations. As a first world country especially we oughtn't have places like this. There are things the need to change here, but the question is where to start?

Writing Workshop #2, Poverty in The U.S. of A

If you just think about poverty you don't think about American. You think of Africa, Asia and South and Central America but that is not the case. Poverty is everywhere and it's just not just a certain ethnic  group of people. There is poverty throughout the world in every ethnic group of the population. This was shown in the two videos that we watched and it can open to your eyes to how bad some people live in our country. All the people that we saw had certain things in their life that was similar to the others and other things that were unique to them.

What a lot of the houses look like in Camden, NJ.

The first video we watched was about the poorest city in America, Camden, New Jersey. Fifty years ago it was one of the bigger industrial cities in America. Then there were race riots and everything seemed to change. From then on the city has been on a downward trend. The city is at an all time low right now. In Camden two in every five people live below the nation poverty rate and only 49% of kids graduate high school. That is much lower than the nations 93% graduation rate. There is also drugs and murders all throughout the city. The police can't control the drugs because they don't have enough officers. Outnumber so much that drug dealers are willing to do drug deals in the middle of the day. The murder rate in the city is incredible high also. In the past year there was 67 homicides in the city and a shooting every 33 hours.

A family and their house up in the mountains.

The second video that we watched was about the people in the middle of nowhere USA. In the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia. The people that live up in these mountains only go into town in they need something badly. The family that was highlighted in video they said that none of their family had graduated high school. They all just worked in the coal mines in the mountains. These people also had a drug problem like the people in the inter city. The only thing in the families house that they protected was their pain medication. The mom said it would sell for $10 a pill on the black market. The people up there rely on alcohol and drugs to have fun on their friday nights. Even the star high school football player said he would have a drink every night because it cleared out his kidney's and it was what he was used to growing up.

Both of the towns that we looked at were very sad and we only looked at two of them. I bet if we wanted to we could find these types of places all across the US. In the same country at CEO's of companies are getting tens of millions of dollars in bonuses. These people are never going to get out of poverty if they don't have the opportunities that others do and as of now there is no hope for them. Which is sad because you can see it in their eyes that they want out, they want to do something with their life but they are stuck on carousel with no way out. Both towns had one major thing in common though. That similarity is that drugs are a big part of people's life. If you looked at many poverty stricken places drugs would also be a major part of life.

The two videos both focused on apart of our great country that people try not to think and talk about. When really the topic of poverty should be on the front burner not the back.

WW Letter to Malala

Dear Malala,


There are many people who would think it's best for you to move to the States instead of staying in Pakistan. I think it's understandable for people to suggest you go there for the education you seek, but it only shows how little they understand about your cause. You know you aren't fighting for only yourself, you fight for everyone in the same situation. As the leader for this cause, were you to leave for America your mission would fail. The Taliban would continue to plow forward in their crimes with the loss of their opposing spokesperson. So many people cannot simply move to a different country to have what they want--neither should they have to. A good government ought to provide an education to both sexes, and ought have the option available for girls whether or not they take it. You know that, and that is more than part of the reason that you are still in Pakistan.
   

Reaction to the Videos about Malala

When watching the videos about Malala I could tell that education to her meant a lot and she put her life at stake to ensure her and other girls in Pakistani

could get an education. This love for school can be lost in American kids because we see school as something we have to do everyday and don't have any choice about going. There are only certain times that we realize how important an education is and when you have those times they are special because you understand how lucky we are for getting a "free" education.

I had one of those time a few months ago. I was volunteering for my church at the Catholic Multicultural Center. I made and then served food to the homeless people that came to get a warm meal. When I was behind the food helping serve the food and just seeing them and saying a few words to them, I could see that these people didn't have an education and they had to suffer due to that. Then after everyone got their food I went out and talked to some of them. They are humans just like me but they where not lucky enough to get/finish their education for many different reason. That experience made me think to myself and I know when I am older I don't want to have to be like them. One way I can help myself not become homeless is to get an education so from now on whenever I don't want to go school I think about the people I meet. That always get me to tell myself that school is something I should be happy about going to.

I think that if any kid was thinking about dropping out of school or any kid in general that just doesn't like going to school everyday should watch this video. It will show them how lucky they are to be living in a place where schooling is given to them. Her story opened my eyes and will open any kids eyes that also listens to her story.

Malala's Experience

    Education in Pakistan for girls is rare, and the Taliban does not help in this cause. They have made it either impossible or illegal for girls to go to school.  Malala is a teenage girl who grew up in Swat, Pakistan.  Her father is an activist for women's rights and he runs a girls school in Swat.  Malala like any other child going to school thought it was something that she was forced to do, until it was taken away by the Taliban.  She then realized how much she valued education and how it was the only thing that could make her a successful women who did not just end up tending for the house like all the women in her family before her.

    

    Malala's father spoke out about the Taliban both to the people in Swat and to the press, he then realized that if Malala came and spoke out also that his cause could be strengthened.  Malala being a strong girl who also had her own opinion went along with the idea and advocated as many places as she could for education for girls and how the Taliban was mistreating the people in her town.  By doing this it made her open to attacks from the Taliban, but her family assumed that since she was both a child and a girl that they would not kill her but they would try and kill her father instead.  They were wrong, in 2012 Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban.  She survived and is using this experience to spread her message even further.  She wants everyone in the world to be aware of the situation in Swat.  She wants every girl to have the right to an education so they can break the mold and do something to help change the world. 

Malala Letter

Dear Malala,
     Many people believe that you should come to the United States to further your education, others think that you should stay in Pakistan and fight for education there.  I would advise you to stay in Pakistan, I think that if you left, the Taliban would take it as a victory and become even more cruel.  I feel that you have come to far to stop anything short of entire freedom of education in Pakistan.  Your cause is becoming more prevalent to the rest of the world and continues to grow every day.  If you, as leader of the cause, were to abandon it in order to educate yourself in the US, the changes would stop, followers would be lost and the Taliban would win.  I think the last thing you would want is to have the Taliban continuing to violate the rights of all the people in Pakistan wishing for an education.  I believe that you have invested too much of your time and life into this cause and it would be a shame to see it fall because you left your country.  You were shot, if you leave it could be a green light for the Taliban to kill every girl enrolled at school.  You said you wanted to be a politician and now you have the chance to make a significant change to the world, do not let that chance slip away by leaving the country.  Malala, it is your choice but I would suggest that you stay in Pakistan or you would regret it in the future.

                                                                                                                                    Sincerely,

Concerned Student