A Juvenile Justice System that Reflects What We Know About Adolescent Development by Robert Vickery
To read this article on the Strengthening Chicago’s Youth (SCY) blog site, click here.
The Mistakes Kids Make campaign seeks to raise awareness about juvenile justice issues. When you visit the site, you’re asked to take a quiz on the immature things you did when you were younger: shoplifting, driving under the influence, vandalism, breaking curfew, getting into fights, or doing drugs. Of the visitors to the site, 27% admit to shoplifting, 17% to driving under the influence, 50% to breaking curfew, 15% to vandalizing property, 40% to fighting, and 24% to illegal drug use.
These behaviors are all quite common among teens, but the point is not to excuse behavior that put people at risk of harm. Rather, this project serves to remind us: we all made poor decisions in adolescence, many of which could have landed us in the justice system if we were caught or not given a break.