When Kids Get Life In Prison

In America there are many children who are in prison for life wish to be with their family or playing with toys, anything to get out of the isolated cell. Children are still under development in their brains, they are still immature, but once they kill someone or commit something serious the court will charge them as an adult. Children are not allowed to do a lot of things, like voting, but once they commit something serious they are immediately seen as an adult. Children who commit crimes do it for a certain reason, majority do it because of their background. Juveniles who come out of prison do not come back to crime, they learn their mistake while in prison. Although many children are sentenced life in prison without parole because of the …show more content…
Ofra Bikel has written, produced, and directed When Kids Get Life, the documentary was published with Frontline in PBS on May 8, 2007. The documentary was about different types of adolescent who are serving life in prison because of what they did. There were many kids who murdered their victims because they were abused or by accident.In the documentary there was a juvenile, Jacob Ind, who was sexually, physically, and emotionally abused by his parents because no one was able to help him get out of the toxic home. Ind then killed his parents and when he was caught he was more scared on the police finding the marijuana in his room because he believed he did not think killing his parent to protect himself was not innocent. Bikel showed different stories by children who were sentenced to life in prison, each having a reason for their crime. Ind was one who did not have any other choice since no one was able to help him. Jacob Ind’s brother, Charles Ind, had told social service before he left home and was told they would investigate, which they never did. Bikel showed an example of someone who had no choice to live their life peacefully and safely. Jacob Ind did not mean to kill his parents because he wanted to, it was his only hope for survival. He did not receive help so he decided to help himself. A former high school teacher, Jennifer Jenkins, wrote “On Punishment and Teen Killers”,published on August 2, 2011, was about the author’s sister being killed by a teenager, who enjoyed the thrill of killing. Jenkins discussed how many of these teens kill to be evil, not because of their brain. Many of these juveniles are given support to get out of life in prison while the victims’ families will have to grieve forever with no support.In the article it stated, “My youngest sister was the joy of our close family. When a teenager murdered her and her husband in 1990