As I watched the A&E copumentary "Beyond Scared Straight" my issues with these shows continued to come up. These are kids that are trying to be independent in dangerous areas who are trying to figure out how to survive in life... and they're doing it wrong. Their parents are either incapable, or unwilling to take the appropriate steps to guide them and are now at the end of their ropes, so they reach out to this program. Here is the crux of my problems... while in the "care" of law enforcement, specially selected prisoners, and prison officials these 13 through 16 year olds are assaulted, and battered relentlessly. I'm not saying these kids aren't obnoxious, and in need of some type of help... what I'm saying is that no one should be assaulted by Law Enforcement, or Prison workers. One large, male prison guard told a girl, "I don't care if you're a girl, I can and will fold you as easily as paper." Similar threats are made constantly through the whole program. Prisoners yell at another girl that they will gang rape her, and this is allowed, seemingly encouraged by the guards. When a few of the kids didn't hear or understand a command, the guards slammed them against the wall, or shove them around.
You're going to hear me say "If this was at a bar" a lot today, because most bars today, are zero tolerance zones for everything from most patrons, and law enforcement. So if this were a bar, and a guy came in and told a girl relentlessly shouting how he would fold her, I guarantee he would be dealt with promptly either by patrons, or the police would come and haul him off for assault. If this were a bar, and a group of guys told a girl if she neared the pool tables that she would be gang raped, I guarantee those guys would be dealt with in the same fashion.
Why are LEO's able to commit crimes on TV, and no one follows up and has them prosecuted? The easy answer is that the general populace is so brainwashed that they believe anyone in a uniform can hurt them and there's nothing wrong with that. This viewpoint is wrong from a moral, legal, and ethical viewpoint, so why is it accepted?
What is worse, why is A&E allowed to exploit the traumatizing of children for entertainment purposes? I believe the actions of all involved are immoral and unethical. This shows how prevalent the anti-liberty movement has become. People must in mass claim that the rights of those children were temporarily and contractually denied by action of their parents.
Do the kids need help? Yes! absolutely! Do they need to be assaulted and battered? My answer will always be no.
We would not tolerate this behavior if it was a private citizen and would be child abuse if seen on the street.
ReplyDeleteEntertainment? Not hardly.