Recently, I ran across a report on a program called “Consider the Consequences” in Bibb County, Georgia. The program is one of those that focus on younger children who are heading down a dark path with the law.
The program began when Superior Court Judge Verda Colvin gave a speech to a group of juvenile delinquents who had been in her courtroom that day for petty crimes. She decided the speech was not enough, and upon the request of the children’s parents, she sought a new way to get the children to realize what they had done was the beginning of a hard life for them.
“Parents have gotten to the point to where they say ‘I need help’ and I’m willing to go to law enforcement to get help,” Colvin said in an interview with reporters from Crime Watch Daily.
Children involved in the program often undergo tasks and events that happen every day in a prison, such as being confronted by loud, angry prisoners yelling in their face, cleaning the bathrooms without any gloves and even being put in a jail cell filled with criminals who could be dangerous.
The program in Bibb County earned attention from some media in 2016 because they saw the program in a negative light. Some people see it as “traumatizing” to the children involved. They justified this allegation by saying these events only make the children want to act out more because of the stress the program puts on them.
I do not believe these allegations at all. The scared straight programs should have one purpose: that is to scare the delinquents to the point where they will do anything to stay out of trouble. The program should be an awakener to the children of today who think they are untouchable and cannot be harmed.
The only problem I see with these types of programs is that they are criticized by people who think children should always be coddled and never see the truth of the world that surrounds them.
Children who grow up feeling as though they can do or say anything without fear of consequences rarely go on to be pillars of the community.
This program shows them what their future could be like, and in the end that can only help them change for the better.
Though one day in jail may be slightly traumatizing to the children, what would be even more damaging to them is a lifetime in one.
Mikala Turner is a sophomore social work major from Bruce.
