JUVENILE DETENTION CENTERS

 

JUVENILE DETENTION CENTERS

In theory, jails are for minor offenders with short sentences, and prisons are for major offenders with long sentences. Jails are usually run by local government, and prisons are run by the national government. But these definitions are almost always not exact, and the differences often get blurred here and there.

More often than not, arrested suspects who are still waiting for hearings or sentencings are also placed in the jails, and they are usually mixed in with those who are already sentenced and are already convicted. There seems to be no problem with that if we are talking about adult inmates, but there are really big problems when we are talking about juvenile offenders.

Also in theory, those who are still awaiting sentencing are really just detainees and are therefore not prisoners, strictly speaking that is. That could not be truer in the case of juveniles, who are technically just detainees, and are not prisoners. But the problem is, these juveniles are always mixed in with the adult detainees.

While the obvious solution is to put up separate detention centers for the juveniles, what is really needed is a wholistic solution that should involve a complete ecosystem, and not just the simplistic putting up of physical buildings. For one, the mental health of these young people may already be a problem, and that is why the suicide rate among them is very high. Who should lead these wholistic efforts? Perhaps the DILG? Or the DOH? Or the DSWD? IKE SENERES/03-12-2024

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