By Marcus Bullock
Guest Blogger
On October 2nd, the Washington Post published “Why 21 year-old offenders should be tried in family court”. As I read the
op-ed, I was reminded of the young guys that I knew while I was locked up as a
15-year-old kid.
The young men around me may have been older than I was, but these
guys were no different from me. For Youth Justice Awareness Month at the Campaign for
Youth Justice, I created this video about why experiencing prison while still developing is extremely harmful for young adults. As I learn
about the brain science and behavior research that shows what seemed obvious to
me at the time, I now know that there’s not that much difference,
developmentally, between an older teenager and a
young adult.Now that we know this, I hope we can create approaches and
programs that are based on what science tells us.
Instead of treating young adults the same as if they are much
older and putting them in the criminal justice system, we should create systems
for diversion, community-based services, and maybe even special facilities to address
their unique needs. I now run my own home remodeling business, and am the
founder of the Flikshop mobile
app, which generates postcards from digital downloads to help keep people in
prison more connected to their loved ones. If we provide supports that
recognize the needs of young adults, even if they are in the adult criminal
justice system, we can see lots more people succeed like me. Doing this would
be the ideal game plan, and would ensure that our communities are safer in the
long run.
Marcus Bullock is the
CEO and Founder of the mobile app Flikshop. He is also a Board Member at the
Justice Policy Institute.
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