Solitary Confinement for Juveniles

In late January President Obama passed new laws banning the use of solitary confinement on juveniles. Before the ban of solitary confinement some juveniles were spending time alone in their cells usually without any contact for over twenty hours a day sometimes more. According to Washingtonpost.com Obama tells of the possible devastating psychological consequences that these juveniles face when put in solitary confinement for long periods of time. Some effects of solitary confinement on juveniles according to American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) include anxiety, rage and insomnia among many others.


I agree with with President Obama on banning solitary confinement for juveniles. Through the articles I have read it is clear that there is not a real need for it and it can have crippling effects on the person which are not needed. In the article Growing Up Locked Down by the ACLU there are many interviews with juveniles who were once in solitary confinement. Many of these young men and women do things to relieve their pain including self-harm and suicide attempts. Others have trouble with the small space they have saying they feel trapped which they are. According to the ACLU most suicides are while the inmate is in solitary confinement.

Many juveniles have been in solitary confinement for many different reasons but not only me, others also believe that confinement does more harm than good. Many states even before the banning of solitary confinement for juveniles had begun to regulate and completely stop the solitary confinement for people under eighteen.