If we want to solve the problem of crime, we must build a sense of community which will acknowledge the importance and value of every child and provide adequate protection. We must take responsibility for teaching adults how to care for their own children and for giving treatment to adults who have addictions. This girl was African American and poor and obviously had little education. This is a perfect example of the inequities in the U.S. criminal justice system. She will not have the experience of attending high school or dating boys or having parents help her with those difficult teenage years.
Prison is much worse.
Inmates with long sentences lose hope. They have no reason to behave well. They have no motivation to try to improve. They lose all sense of reality in the free world. They have less access to television today, which means less access to information in the news or educational programming.