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Britain is failing its 'Kids Behind Bars'


Research by the inter-church human rights charity Jubilee Action has revealed the spectacular failure of Britain to deal with child offenders. In an investigative programme being shown on BBC1 at 10.30 tonight, award-winning film-makers Brian Woods and Kate Blewett will challenge the government to address the failure rate of 17 children out of 20 who re-offend in the British system. Brian and Kate claim that this tragic situation would never be tolerated in any other public service. In the UK, 84% of children released from Youth Offender Institutes are reconvicted of an offence within two years. This is set in the context of prisons such as the Ankara Reformatory in Turkey whose success in re- integrating child offenders back into the community has been exceptional. Only 3% of those released from the Ankara Reformatory had been reconvicted on an offence within 4 years. The findings from the study also feature in a special edition of Just Right magazine, published by Jubilee Action. Editor Danny Smith said: 'All too often, prison turns children into criminals rather than turning them from crime. However, it doesn't have to be like that. We want to cause society to review its attitude and treatment of children in prison. Just Right has worked with film-makers Kate and Brian to be able to expose the dark corners hidden from the world to reveal children betrayed by the system, victimised and brutalised, whose lives will never be the same again. It is our hope and prayer that through this documentary and our magazine, things will change.' The powerful Kids Behind Bars film by True Vision, gained the first ever footage of children in prison in Mongolia as well as filming in the US, the Philippines, India, Brazil, Romania, and the UK to uncover the global tragedy of children in prison. The film aims to understand the issue through children telling their own story. Just Right magazine, carries a photo feature with images from the film, features on alternative initiatives available to authorities to effectively deal with child offenders as well suggested action that we can take to make a change. To become a supporter or for more information visit: www.justright.org.uk

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