Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Big D offers no education for kids charged as adults

Kids in juvenile detention go to classes and receive an education while they're in lockup. When kids are charged as adults, though, at least in Dallas, nobody bothers, so says Kevin Krause in the Dallas News ("Learning limited for youths in jail," Oct. 17). Advocacy Inc. is pushing to get those youthful offenders back into class.

We're not talking about a lot of kids - there are presently nine in the Dallas jail awaiting trial, e.g. - but for those few it appears to be a significant oversight. Some 14-16 year olds can sit in jail up to a year awaiting trial, Krause reports, without ever seeing a teacher or a classroom.

Some other Texas counties keep youth charged as adults in juvenile facilities where they can receive more age-appropriate services. That seems like a more reasonable way to go.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Come on, this is Dallas you're talking about. You should just be glad they can still FIND all nine of those kids in the jail.

Mike Howard said...

No kidding. We're not exactly known for keeping track of our people! Or responding to even the most serious medical needs or our inmates. Or keeping in compliance with state regulations. Oh boy I could go on and on...