[Highlights from the week's juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]
 
via Gizmodo: ‘This Ad Has a Secret Anti-Abuse Message That Only Kids Can See’

In an effort to provide abused children with a safe way to reach out for help, a Spanish organization called the Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk Foundation, or ANAR for short, created an ad that displays a different message for adults and children at the same time. Video embedded below, or watch it here: http://gizmodo.com/this-ad-has-a-secret-anti-abuse-message-that-only-kids-493108460

 
via the Campaign for Youth Justice: ‘In Remembrance of Kirk Gunderson: Remembering My Son this Mother’s Day’
A heartbreaking and moving piece written by mother Vicky Gunderson, whose son Kirk committed suicide while incarcerated. This piece serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of family involvement in the youth justice system. Vicky writes, “Every … Read More »

[Highlights from the week's juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]
 
via the Miami Herald: ‘Fred Grimm: For kids in isolation, a shrug from Florida lawmakers’

Crummy news from Florida. A Senate criminal justice committee hearing last week on Florida’s rampant use of solitary confinement for children resulted in nothing. The proposed legislation to regulate the practice was put aside without a vote and while it’s scheduled again for next week it’s not expected to pass. Many kids spending long periods of time in solitary confinement are held within adult jails– where an isolation cell is used to keep the juveniles separate from the adult population. We’re talking children, 17-year-olds, being kept in concrete cells for 23 hours a day, for weeks and months. Apparently, the Senate panel was way more interested in hearing … Read More »

[Highlights from the week's juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]
 

Have you taken the Mistakes Kids Make pledge?

Mistakes Kids Make is a rad awareness campaign / storytelling project sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation. Their goal is to “remind us that the mistakes we make as kids should not ruin the rest of our lives or the lives of our families.” It may seem simple to you justice-minded folks but it’s working towards an important shift in perspective that needs to occur nationwide to alter how we think about and treat youth misbehavior.

Take the pledge here: http://mistakeskidsmake.org/#domore

On a lighter/loosely related note…
 

via Buzzfeed: ’8 Classic Zack Morris Moments That Today Could Totally Have Landed Him Behind Bars’ 

via Campaign for Youth Justice: ‘Tolerance in Schools for Latino Students: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline’

On April … Read More »

[Highlights from the week's juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]
 

via NY Times: [video] ‘The War on Drugs is a Failure’ 
The Gregory Brothers’ latest musical mash-up features Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, former Congressman Ron Paul and special guests who argue for the reform of U.S. drug laws.
 

 
via Mistakes Kids Makes: ‘All Kids Make Mistakes’
66% of kids who have been incarcerated never return to school. It doesn’t have to be this way. All kids make mistakes, and all kids deserve the chance to be held accountable but learn from those mistakes. Learn more at http://mistakeskidsmake.org/

 
via JJIE.org: ‘Juvenile Detention Alternatives Gain Ground in States, D.C’
Last week, juvenile justice system practitioners and advocates in all fields convened in Atlanta, Georgia to discuss … Read More »

[This week we're bringing you up to date on good stuff from the last TWO WEEKS. Keep reading for the juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]

 
via Newsweek’s The Daily Beast: ‘Undocumented Kids Crossing the U.S Border Alone in Increasing Numbers’ 

Terry Green Sterling reports that while illegal immigration may be down, the number of kids coming in the country is soaring, and many are being deported without a lawyer. In 2012, the U.S Customs and Border Patrol apprehended 24,481 unaccompanied minors attempting to cross the border. Sterling tells this harrowing story: “Miguel Garcia was one such kid. He fled Guatemala City, he tells The Daily Beast, after the notorious M18 gang tried to recruit him when he played soccer. When he declined, the gang shot his brother, mistaking him for Garcia. The brother … Read More »

[Highlights from the week's juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]
 
via NY Times: ‘Who is Poor?’
There are three ways of defining poverty. This op-ed piece explores all three while positing that “the lack of definition in our definition of poverty is part of the problem; it helps to answer the question of how the richest country in the history of the world could have so many people living in a state of deprivation.”
Read the op-ed HERE

 
via Youthprise: ‘JDAI Black History Month Video’ 

 
 via Juvenile Justice Information Exchange: ‘A House of Art Offering Inner-City Youth A Way Out’

Samantha Caiola introduces us to Graffiti Zone, a Chicago non-profit providing young people with the space and guidance to produce legal graffiti, sound mixing and slam poetry. Run by a 20-year-old Chicago native, Graffiti Zone aims to … Read More »

[Highlights from the week's juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]
 

new video from TakePart TV: ‘How Long is Forever: Fair Sentencing of Youth’

 
 
via Prison Policy Initative: ‘Return to Sender: Postcard-Only Mail Policies in Jails’
“Over the past five years, dozens of local jails across the country have followed a harmful new policy trend: mandating that all personal written correspondence to or from jail take place via postcard.” This new report from the Prison Policy Instititue, by Leah Sakala, explores why this is a major step backwards for the justice system.

 
via Campaign for Youth Justice: ‘Kids, Cops, and Confessions Explores Mysterious World of the Interrogation Room’
A good summary on the CFYJ blog on the new book Kids, Cops, and Confessions: Inside the Interrogation Room by University of Minnesota Professor Barry C.Feld. Leah … Read More »