The old adage “it takes a village to raise a child,” is getting renewed interest in Biddeford, where representatives from the schools, social service agencies and justice system are coming together to promote “restorative justice.”
About 85 people from these fields met last week to discuss this old-fashioned, community approach to the timeless problem of how to deal with juveniles who break the law.
Rather than simply punishing young people for their transgressions, restorative justice seeks to help them understand the impact of their crime so they can decide for themselves that it’s not something they should do again. Those who are under age 18 are treated differently under the law for most crimes for one simple reason: hope. No one likes to think that a child who commits a crime is beyond rehabilitation or unable to change their ways enough to lead a productive, lawful life. It’s that hope for a positive change that is behind this effort to help young people turn away from a path that leads to a life of crime.
It’s startling to learn that 15 students from Biddeford are serving time in the Long Creek Youth Development Center for juvenile offenders in South Portland. Biddeford is a small city with a population of only 21,277, so 15 seems like a high number. For its size, however, Biddeford has a poor population, which often correlates with a lack of parental supervision and support, low levels of education and the kind of hopelessness that leads to crime.
It’s heartening to see this community come together in support of those youth whose circumstances often play a big role in their decisions to make terrible mistakes. Punishment can be seen as a badge of honor for some of these youth, branding them as “tough” and “cool,” so fines and jail time alone cannot be used as a complete answer to addressing their crimes.
Take graffiti vandalism for example. If a young person “tags” a property owner’s retaining wall, they might get high-fives from their friends and respect for getting arrested and fined. With restorative justice, they learn just how uncool it is for the property owner to be left with the damage: A big part of restorative justice is having youth meet with the person who was impacted by their crime, face to face, to understand how their actions hurt the person. They learn the emotional distress they caused and that insurance deductibles aren’t low enough to cover a professional paint job, so the homeowner is left scrubbing and repainting the property they worked hard to purchase in the first place.
That kind of interaction has a lot more of a lasting impact on the perpetrator than a fine or time at Long Creek, and it certainly doesn’t make them feel good about any “street cred” they may have gained by committing the crime.
Fred Van Liew, with the Restorative Justice Institute, told the group gathered last week in Biddeford that it can be “transformative” for people to meet with their victims and understand the impact of their actions. That’s the kind of justice that people ”“ particularly young people ”“ need, so that they cannot separate what they’ve done from the people it affects. It’s the first step in encouraging them to pursue a new direction, and it’s important that there are social agencies and support systems in the schools set up to help them stay on track, by completing their high school education and envisioning a better future for themselves.
As a society, we should not consign these young offenders to jails where they will internalize the criminal lifestyle, but should instead incorporate a learning experience into their punishment so they can see the error of their ways. If we do not take these proactive steps, it’s all too easy to lose these youth to a cycle of violence, vandalism and theft that will only become harder and harder to escape as they age. And that’s not only a detriment to them personally, but to all of us who must deal with increased crime and ballooning prison populations.
Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Ray said it best when he said, “Something’s got to change.” We agree and we hope the momentum of this first meeting grows so that the restorative justice effort takes root in Biddeford and beyond. Sanford had tried to implement this program a few years ago, but could not gather enough volunteers to support it, unfortunately. This approach requires the support of the community, so we hope the interest in Biddeford is piqued enough for people to follow through with committing to help administer it, and that this effort might also renew interest in Sanford and elsewhere.
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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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