For generations, experts and activists have studied the shocking trends of American youth committing crimes across the country. But after a global pandemic, the rise of technology and a sense of hopelessness brewing nation-wide, it’s time we talk about how to protect our youth while address growing concerns in our own communities.
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According to data from the Sentencing Project, Black youth are nearly five times more likely to be held in juvenile facilities compared to their white peers. This doesn’t mean young Black people commit more crimes, however– it means they are disproportionately criminalized, especially given factors that make them more vulnerable.
“Sadly, our African American youth are often living in some very traumatic experiences that just add themselves to be involved in criminal activity more than perhaps other youth,” Dr. Everette B. Penn, the Director of the Texas Juvenile Crime Prevention Center, told The Root.
Penn, who is also the chair of the HBCU Criminal Justice Collective, said in order to rectify these discrepancies, you have to start at home. “We never can forget that the first teachers any youth has is that of their parents,” the professor said. “If their parents are going through difficulties, then that often makes for the trauma that the parents are experiencing to also make their way to the next generation of the children.”
Approximately 2.7 million American children have at least one parent serving time in prison or jail, and more than 5.2 million children have had an incarcerated parent, according to the Sentencing Project. Thirteen percent of Black children deal with parental incarceration at some point in their lives.
This, on top of the growing socio-economic gap and systemic racism, are all pivotal factors that could lead a young person to a life of crime. So, it’s then up to local communities to step in. Penn pointed to cities like Washington, D.C., where leaders say youth programs lead to a decrease in crime.
Dr. Penn, like thousands of Black children living in the nation’s capital, participated in D.C. Mayor Marion Barry’s Summer Youth Enrichment Program, which employs hundreds of young D.C. residents every summer.
“Yes, I do remember being that 14, 15-year old,” he told us. “I had a summer youth job with building my leadership skills… and had an opportunity to bond with other youth that wanted the very best [for themselves].”
The issue is there aren’t enough preventive alternatives for children, which was only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and a growing lack of empathy never before seen.
“You already have the pandemic. You have this aspect of technology now making people more solitude in themselves,” he said. “We’re seeing it in higher education and as well as in secondary schools that the communication skills that our youth have are reduced.”
“It’s time to go back to the original points that we know were very effective… that reduced crime,” he added. “We need to think college/workforce readiness. We need to think not everyone is going to go to college, but what are the skill sets that are necessary to give that person– that person’s family an opportunity to have a living wage?”
Penn urged folks to realize that the responsibility of the youth falls on the greater community. “It’s not just their problem,” he continued. “The development of youth, African American youth, urban youth… is everybody’s issue because we want people to succeed, and we want to have a workforce that’s ready to step in and be that next generation.”
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