I came across an article in a local newspaper about children in prisons and I couldn’t take my mind off it because it had never occurred to me that there are children stuck in prisons. All I could picture after that were innocent little children curbed behind thick tall prison walls, children who may never be able to catch a glimpse of a normal life, children who are seemingly held back from achieving their dreams and potentials because of a sour fate. A fate dished out to them not because they committed a crime but because their mothers are prisoners.
This really broke my heart and I pondered on it so much that I decided to dig deep into any available literature and what I discovered was amazing. I found out that little children get into prisons through two major ways. Firstly, when they accompany a mother or parent into prison and secondly when they are conceived and born in prison. In both cases, these children who are victims of crime find themselves growing up in an environment which should never be intended for kids. One wonders the extent of psychological damage on these children, what sort of future awaits a child who grows up in the midst of several violent offenders? Will these children ever be able to exhibit positive social behavior? Are they not more likely to be perpetrators of violent crimes when they grow up?
I soon realized that it may not be advisable to separate young children from their mothers at a tender age as the advantage of early bonding between mother and child builds security and self-esteem. On the contrary, prisons are not safe for babies and little children because the environment may cause them to lose their freedom and childhood. Since both situations subject the child to a lot of risk, one cannot say which option is better. Nevertheless, more attention should be channeled to cases of children who are conceived within the prison because while it may be impractical to separate a young child from an imprisoned mother, it is not impractical to prevent the conception of babies in prisons. Year in, year out across various prisons, women are impregnated whether willingly or through rape and the perpetrators of this act deserve to be heavily punished because of the resultant or ripple effects of their actions.
This is a subject which deserves some level of attention by relevant authorities and indeed every patriotic citizen but I cannot end this article without mentioning that it is a global challenge which cuts across several countries so it’s not necessarily peculiar to race or culture. Also there seems to be no clear cut standard for handling this predicament so individual counties like the rest of the world need to deal with it from a unique and tailored perspective.
Phew!!!! I hope I did a little bit of justice to this article and I hope this issue touches your heart the way it touched mine.
(Picture credit: Pixabay)