Excessively Harsh Treatment of Minor Children

Amazingly, our country still debates whether executing 16 and 17 year old children should be legal. The issue is now before the Supreme Court, and of course if the vote is one of approval, thousands of children will face this edict which flies in the face of our Eighth Amendment opposing “Cruel and unusual punishment.” This means that little or no attention will be given to the harsh backgrounds of these children, which include abuse and neglect in largely poverty areas of our country, and minority groups. Alan Elsner documents all this in his book, Gates of Injustice, which all of our public officials should read.

This story of how our children are being treated in these harsh sentencing methods, and what they face in prison, led me to include this issue in my book, Theatre: Its Healing Role in Education, in the chapter, “Prisons and the Power of Art.” I hope you will all read it. It includes some pretty horrible details; but it also includes, in heartening terms, what theatre and other arts programs are achieving in our prisons in turning these young people around. It is an inspiring story. I do hope you will give it some attention, and join us in a mass protest of these conditions.