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