Juvenile Delinquents

John Alston

alstonj@binghamtonschools.org

Grade 6, East Middle School, Binghamton, NY

MYP Area of Interaction: Health and Social Education

Introduction

In the story Holes, Stanley Yelnats is convicted of a crime that he did not commit. He is sent to fictional Camp Green Lake for a period of 18 months. Green Lake is a terrible place. There is no green or lake and kids are expected to dig a five foot deep hole each day in the hot sun. Campers do not attend school. They are forced to do manual labor each day. We are going to look at this camp and determine how far fetched this is and what a real juvenile detention center actually looks like. The overall goal of this project will be to examine how society deals with juvenile delinquents and how can we better assimilate these children back into society. Most of the time, the reason a child is bad is because he /she was not taught the difference between right and wrong by their parents. They also may have had a lack of positive adult role models in their life. How do we help a young person who is going down the wrong road? What do they need to learn? You will research this on the internet and write an essay about how we can help troubled youth become good members of our society.

Task

Students will examine juvenile detention facilities and determine what is being done to help troubled youth. A graphic organizer will be completed that looks at features of Camp Green Lake and at least two actual detention facilities and what they do to aid students. After completing the organizer based on internet research, students will write an essay in which they create a plan for how to help troubled youth.

Process

The process will focus on the six step Public Policy Analyst method. This approach will focus on the social problem of juvenile delinquency. The six steps are indicated by italics. Click on each for further detail.

1. Introduce the problem. Have a brief class discussion of potential problems in juvenile detention facilities. Work will be done with one partner.

2. Complete an organizer based on fictional Camp Green Lake from Holes by Louis Sachar. The organizer will look at negative and positive things that are done for the campers. Students will use the book and one computer per group.

3. Gather evidence of the problem. Students will look at actual internet sites of juvenile detention facilities and video news reports online using the resources list below. An organizer will be completed focusing on positive and negative things done for troubled youth. This will be worked on for one class period.

4. Identify some causes of the problem in a group discussion on day two of detention facilities. What did groups find in their research?

5. Evaluate existing policies in a continuation of the discussion. How do they help? What could they do better?

6. The final step will to develop solutions. Each student will write an essay on how they would create a detention facility that helped youth become good members of society. Students will begin the essay after the discussion and finish it for homework. The essay will include an organizer, rough draft and final. It will be 5 paragraphs and fulfill writing expectations for sixth grade. The final draft will be finished at a later date. Students will share their ideas in a short presentation when final drafts are due.

7. Students will select the best solution for each class. Why is it the best? Is this feasible? Cost effective?

Resources

1. Holes by Louis Sachar (Sachar, Louis, Holes. New York: Dell Yearling, 2000.)

2. Waverly Regional Youth Facility: This is an ABC news report about facilities in Missouri.

3. Why Juvenile Detention Makes Kids Worse: This is Time magazine article about problems with juvenile detention centers.

4. Cook County, Chicago: This video is about a facility in Chicago.

5. Photo Essay: Children Behind Bars: Listen to real stories from inmates and the people in charge.

6. NYC juvenile corrections: Here are two new state of the art facilities in New York City.

7. Charm School: This center is teaching girls some interesting things.

8. In Bulgaria, there is only one detention facility. It is only for boys. The country has never had an issue with girls who are in trouble with the law.

Evaluation

The essay will be assessed using a writing rubric. See below. The organizer will be assessed using a simple rubric as well, checking for completion. The essay will be worth 24 points (4 points for each area). The organizer will be 12 points, one for each square. The presentation will be done in an informal discussion where each student is expected to share some ideas from their writing.

Conclusion

Students will hopefully have gained a good understanding of the reality of juvenile detention in our country today, as well as the setting of Holes. The students will also have written a good essay, focusing on how they would help troubled youth and demonstrating an understanding of sixth grade writing expectations.

NYS Standards:

ELA

1: Information & Understanding

2: Literary Response & Expression

3: Critical analysis & Evaluation

4: Social Interaction

Social Studies

5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Appendix

Writing Rubric

Category	4	3	2	1
Focus	The writing is clearly focused and answers the question asked.	The writing is mostly focused and mostly answers the question asked.	The writing is somewhat focused and somewhat answers the question asked.	The writing is not focused and does not answer the question asked.
Organization	Piece has structure and the major points are paragraphed.	Piece has structure and most major points are paragraphed.	Reader must infer structure and some major points are paragraphed.	Piece rambles, is repetitive or is confusing to the reader.
Development	Piece has a well defined introduction, body and conclusion.	Piece lacks one of the following: well defined introduction, body or conclusion.	Piece lacks more than one of the following: well defined introduction, body or conclusion.	Piece is uneven and fragmentary.
Format	Follows accepted standard formatting guidelines and is the requested length.	Follows most accepted formatting guidelines and is the requested length.	Does not follow standard formatting guidelines and is under the requested length.	Does not follow standard formatting guidelines and is significantly under the requested length.
Conventions	Writing displays understanding of proper grammar, punctuation and capitalization throughout.	Writing contains one or two consistent grammatical errors or incorrect uses of punctuation / capitalization.	Many sentences include incorrect use of grammar, punctuation or capitalization.	Writing does not use proper grammar, punctuation or capitalization and contains numerous errors.
Spelling	All words are spelled correctly.	Most words are spelled correctly.	There are numerous spelling errors.	Piece is almost unreadable to the amount of misspelled words.

Name: ___________________ Date: _______

Reading 600 J. Alston

Juvenile Detention Centers

Directions: Complete the following organizer using Holes and the internet resources provided in the Web Quest. Provide at least 3 things in each box.

Name of the Detention Facility	Positive things they do here to help troubled youth	Negative things they do, that in your opinion, does not help troubled youth.
Camp Green Lake
2.
3.
4.