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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/08/child-imprisonment-is-wrong-lets-end-it
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| Child imprisonment is wrong – let’s end it | Child imprisonment is wrong – let’s end it |
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| Mark Johnson is right that we should feel deeply uncomfortable about incarcerating children (Children in prison are struggling but no one really cares, 7 November). The latest official data shows that 42% of children in young offender institutions were previously in care and one in every five is disabled. A high number of children enter prison already the subject of local authority child protection plans. Mental health difficulties are common. Yet prisons are incapable of meeting even children’s very basic needs, with many locked in their cells for 22 hours a day and kept permanently scared and hungry. | Mark Johnson is right that we should feel deeply uncomfortable about incarcerating children (Children in prison are struggling but no one really cares, 7 November). The latest official data shows that 42% of children in young offender institutions were previously in care and one in every five is disabled. A high number of children enter prison already the subject of local authority child protection plans. Mental health difficulties are common. Yet prisons are incapable of meeting even children’s very basic needs, with many locked in their cells for 22 hours a day and kept permanently scared and hungry. |
| We have come together to say enough is enough. Later this month, in the House of Lords, we launch England’s first collaborative campaign to end child imprisonment. Children’s lives, wellbeing and rehabilitation are matters for the social welfare system. The minority of children who have to be detained for safety reasons should be looked after in places where all of their needs are met, and their rights protected. These establishments must be managed within our child welfare system, rather than the part of government responsible for adult imprisonment. We should indeed care more for children in trouble with the law.Carolyne Willow Director, Article 39Barry Anderson Vice-president, National Association for Youth JusticeMaggie Atkinson Children’s commissioner for England 2010-15Deborah Coles Director, InquestFrances Crook Chief executive, Howard League for Penal ReformRichard Garside Director, Centre for Crime and Justice StudiesProfessor Barry Goldson Department of sociology, social policy and criminology, University of LiverpoolPippa Goodfellow Senior lecturer in youth justice, Nottingham Trent UniversityPam HibbertRoss Little Chair, National Association for Youth JusticeDr David Scott Senior lecturer, criminology, The Open UniversityDr Serena Wright Lecturer in criminology, Royal Holloway, University of London | We have come together to say enough is enough. Later this month, in the House of Lords, we launch England’s first collaborative campaign to end child imprisonment. Children’s lives, wellbeing and rehabilitation are matters for the social welfare system. The minority of children who have to be detained for safety reasons should be looked after in places where all of their needs are met, and their rights protected. These establishments must be managed within our child welfare system, rather than the part of government responsible for adult imprisonment. We should indeed care more for children in trouble with the law.Carolyne Willow Director, Article 39Barry Anderson Vice-president, National Association for Youth JusticeMaggie Atkinson Children’s commissioner for England 2010-15Deborah Coles Director, InquestFrances Crook Chief executive, Howard League for Penal ReformRichard Garside Director, Centre for Crime and Justice StudiesProfessor Barry Goldson Department of sociology, social policy and criminology, University of LiverpoolPippa Goodfellow Senior lecturer in youth justice, Nottingham Trent UniversityPam HibbertRoss Little Chair, National Association for Youth JusticeDr David Scott Senior lecturer, criminology, The Open UniversityDr Serena Wright Lecturer in criminology, Royal Holloway, University of London |
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