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Community Centers, Not Juvenile Detention

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Submitted By sallye12
Words 1386
Pages 6
Crux Argument
We need to invest in healing our community by building a recreation center instead of a juvenile detention center. Punishing our youth instead of teaching them will only aggravate the social disease, which gangs are a symptom.
Opening
Hello. Thank you for letting me speak this evening. As I’m sure you all know the city of Seattle has been deliberating over whether or not we should build a new juvenile detention center. This got me thinking, so I started to do a little research about who these kids are and perhaps find a better way of helping them rather than locking them up. I’m not an expert in psychology or sociology. I am merely a concerned citizen who wants to be proud of our city and wants to strengthen our community.
Narration
Many of these young offenders that would be sent to a juvenile detention center are in gangs, which are a big problem in our city. They can taint the city’s feel and image, and make people cautious about going down certain streets even in broad daylight. According to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, the number of juveniles sentenced to King County detention centers has increased by 35% since 1980. On the other hand the adult incarceration rate increased by 137% since 1980. (Keep in mind that the juvenile age range is constantly being turned over, while the adult numbers are compounded.) The numbers of juvenile re-offenders as adults is hard to determine exactly due to anonymity, but they do seem to correlate. So why are we putting so many kids away? What exactly are their offenses? They need to be punished for these crimes, right? Well, it is not that simple. Kids join gangs for many reasons, but they all have a common thread, camaraderie and the security it provides. It is no fluke that kids from strong loving families, kids whom the community is proud to acknowledge, kids we see as the

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