Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Burden of Incarceration



This is just a really quick post about a shocking statistic that i found:
Heartbreaking facts:
"2.7 million children have a parent behind bars—1 in every 28 children (3.6 percent) has a parent incarcerated, up from 1 in 125 just 25 years ago. Two-thirds of these children’s parents were incarcerated for non-violent offenses."
One out of twenty eight in my opinion is a rally large number. We, as in individuals in san mateo, might not feel its impact as heavily since we live in a considerably good area...but for many children, tis is reality.

What id concerns me are two questions:
1) should parents get a lighter/shorter jail time if they have kids?
2) b/c they are parent = have kids, they should be jailed for a longer period of time to prevent children getting negatively influenced....
this is jus something that popped into my head when i first read abotu it.

2 comments:

Gardenia said...

Although its a high percentage, and children are affected, I do not think a sentence should be shortened just because a they have children.

Unknown said...

I agree with Gardenia. As sad as it is, if a child's parent is convicted of a crime, it may actually be better for the child not to spend as much time with that parent.