Youth Offenders

They think we're beasts." So says a condemned murderer, succinctly expressing the view of many Americans. But this killer committed his crime when he was 17, and asks for compassion on those grounds. Filmed prior to the March 1, 2005, U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring execution for underage offenses, Death Row Kids tells the stories of confused and frightened young people awaiting the ultimate penalty. The program also alludes to medical findings that a 17-year-old's brain lacks fully developed decision-making capabilities. The result is a provocative inquiry into complex issues of personal responsibility and the likelihood of criminal rehabilitation. (27 minutes)"

For many inmates at juvenile correctional facilities, looking ahead to freedom brings anxiety and doubt. This program illustrates the challenges that often await young offenders following incarceration and shows teen inmates preparing to face the corporate world, their families, and themselves. Overcoming illiteracy, building marketable work skills, and becoming familiar with employment counseling and job search techniques are some of the subjects explored. The emotional side of leaving prison-including homecomings with elated parents and siblings and the counseling that often accompanies those reunions-is also illustrated in depth. A Cambridge Educational Production. Correlates to all applicable National and State Educational Standards including the NCLB Act. (21 minutes) Follows educational and program recommendations provided by the National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice.

Filmed over the course of a year, this documentary goes inside Glen Mills Schools in Pennsylvania, a boarding school" alternative to prison for about 1,000 young members of street gangs convicted of crimes. Sam Ferrainola, the school's director, has pioneered a system of rewards and privileges where the young men keep themselves under strict surveillance, reporting infractions of the rules to upperclassmen, or "Big Brothers." Ferrainola stresses that Glen Mills is not a boot camp but an educational institution in which the goal is to bring about fundamental changes in behavior without incarceration. The system seems to work: of all institutions for juvenile offenders, Glen Mills' 32 percent recidivism rate is the lowest in the country. (50 minutes)"

All former inmates have a hard time adjusting to life outside prison, but teenagers face their own specific set of challenges after doing time. This two-part series shows how that adjustment process often plays out and how its hardships can be minimized. Filmed in large part at the Rikers Island Academy, a GED-level school that has helped turn hundreds of inmates' lives around, the series covers the major sources of conflict that young people will encounter when reentering society. Addressing the day-to-day challenges of newfound, uncertain freedom, these programs illustrate how a support system can be built with the help of family, peers, caseworkers, and even correctional staff. A Cambridge Educational Production. Correlates to all applicable National and State Educational Standards including the NCLB Act. 2-part series, 21 and 23 minutes each. Follows educational and program recommendations provided by the National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice.

No one yearns to experience the inside of a prison-but to understand the American criminal justice system and those who enter it at an early age, spending a couple of nights behind bars yields powerful results. This ABC News program is the product of unprecedented access to Arizona's juvenile correction facilities, documenting six months in the lives of inmates between 12 and 17 years old. Although the settings can be violent, the young interviewees display remarkable honesty, resilience, and hope for the future, reminding viewers that even in juvie," opportunities for learning and self-discovery are still available. (39 minutes)"

Too young to drive, but old enough to kill. What happens to children convicted of felonies? How and where are they incarcerated? Can they be helped? And does their punishment really fit their crimes? In this program, judges, legal counsel, law enforcement officers, academic experts from Emory and Rutgers Universities, the Director of the Institute for Minority Health Research, and others examine the trend in the U.S. toward trying children as adults and discuss efforts being made to understand their violent behavior. (29 minutes)

In Missouri, a different method of juvenile detention has seen surprisingly successful results, trading in orange jumpsuits and cell blocks for therapists and dorm rooms. This edition of Primetime spends a year with the hard-core offenders at Waverly Regional Youth Center and Rosa Parks Center to see how a combination of nurturing and discipline are transforming inmates into potentially productive members of society-and for half the average national cost of juvenile incarceration. Provided with a strict and stable environment for perhaps the first time in their lives, these damaged young convicts are coming to terms with their past so they can pursue a better future. (41 minutes)

The importance of guidance programs for prisoners can't be overstressed-they help society as well as the individual reentering it. Following young people who have been discharged from Rikers Island Academy, this program focuses on the payoffs that come from educational and counseling services for those behind bars. A lively peer-to-peer class setting is featured, while the process of court-ordered drug-testing is illustrated in detail by a visit to an ex-offender's home-highlighting a central concern of many young people trying to find meaning and success on the outside. A wealth of insight is also provided on the advantages gained from structured vocational and recreational programs. A Cambridge Educational Production. Correlates to all applicable National and State Educational Standards including the NCLB Act. (23 minutes) Follows educational and program recommendations provided by the National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice. Correlates to prevention principles for the National Institute on Drug Prevention.

In the Ventura School, California's showcase juvenile prison, inmates discuss how drugs and alcohol, lack of family support, and gang involvement have influenced their lives. The program also looks at Adult Time For Adult Crime, a program in Dade County, FL, which sends more kids to adult court than any other county in the U.S. Those who prosecute, defend, and judge young offenders explain how our society has come to the point where the age of the defendant is no longer a mitigating factor-and how 14-year-olds are being sentenced to life behind bars. But there are alternatives to that kind of traditional sentencing of young, violent offenders which are explored in a report from the Last Chance Ranch, a work-study lockup rooted in firm discipline, treatment, and rehabilitation. (56 minutes)

In the eyes of the law, how wide are the parameters of parental responsibility? And how aware are parents and teachers of what goes on when they are not around? In this program, ABC News correspondent John Stossel gathers opinions in the heated debate over accountability for a child's delinquent actions by talking with parents, children, survivors, and the judges who are handing down rulings on where exactly to place the blame. Suits against parents for alleged criminal negligence in cases of school shootings, underage drinking and drug use, DWI-related deaths involving minors, and acts of vandalism are addressed. Indecent behavior on and off school grounds is also discussed. (38 minutes)