Juvenile Justice at a Crossroads

The juvenile justice system is at a crossroads as we progress into the 21st century. The social and political consensus that sustained the system as we know it for a century appears to be unraveling. We will witness continued modifications to the juvenile justice system in the years to come. Recent trends raise the question of whether the reformers will retain some of the compassion for young people that was such an impetus to the creation of a separate juvenile justice system in the first place.

To be effective, the system will require that sufficient resources be devoted to fulfill the mission assigned to it. Juvenile courts must have appropriate power and authority, sufficient trained personnel, and adequate facilities to meet their obligations and responsibilities.

Since 1984, there has been a 68 percent increase in juvenile court filings nationwide. Since 1987, juveniles detained and committed to state institutions have risen from approximately 90,000 to 400,000 in 2002. The system is plagued by overcrowding and understaffing in courtrooms, treatment programs and detention facilities. Failure to invest in children now -- and at the earliest point of intervention possible — may entail high costs later in increased crime and social decay. It costs each state approximately $6,000 per year to educate a child. Yet it costs a state over $30,000 per year to detain a child in a residential facility (including prison). It appears cost-effective to invest in early intervention to prevent children from reaching the point where the state must detain them away from their families.

Pressing social problems like juvenile crime cannot be solved by the courts alone, acting, as it were, in a vacuum. There must be an active collaboration among multiple elements in communities and governments: political, educational, and religious leaders; civic organizations; law enforcement agencies; and others. This requires that leaders stop blaming one another, stop acting chiefly in response to sensationalist crime reporting in the mass media, and start working together more purposefully to solve a critical complex of issues affecting young people and society at large.

Exercise 6. Retell the text “Juvenile Justice at a Crossroads”.

Auding Skills

Task 5

One of the Missing

Vocabulary

regiment - полк

rifle - винтовка

picket line - линия пикета

rifle-pit - одиночный окопчик

mound - насыпь, вал

shell - гильза

cannon - пушка

muzzle - дуло

unconscious - без сознания

Exercise 1. Fill the gaps with the words from the text

1. Searing could shoot _________ well.

2. Pickets guarded the men of their ____________.

3. The pickets ________ _______ to sleep.

4. The ______ quickly lay flat on the _________.

5. This will be a good place to _______ and _______.

6. There were no trees between the ______ and ______.

7. The metal barrels of their _______ shone in the morning sunlight.

8. Searing had to return quickly to his own _________.

9. When Searing opened his eyes he saw _____ ______.

10. The ring was, in fact, the ______ of his own rifle.

11. The powerful rifle was loaded with a ______.

12. The scout was extremely tired, but he did not _____.

13. ______ were climbing near the rifle.

14. _______ Searing came to the farm house.

15. The time was ____ ____.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions.

1.What did Private Searing have to do?

2. Why did they choose him?

3.What did he decide to do before going to his regiment?

4. Did he do it? Why?

5. Was he a brave man?

6. What happened next?

7. What was Private Searing afraid of?

8. How did he die?

9. Why didn’t his brother recognize him?

10. What is the main idea of the story?

Exercise 3. Write down the short summary of the story

Task 6

The Stranger

Vocabulary

trap - ловушка

steep - крутой

cliff - утес, скала

cave - пещера

Exercise 1. Fill the gaps with the words from the text.

1. You are not the first man to _______ the desert.

2. The _______ was on the other side of our ______ _____.

3. Well, there was nothing _______ about the man.

4. The stranger was _______ for a few seconds, then he went on with his ______.

5. The stranger stared at the ______ of the ______ as he spoke.

6. Tell us what _______.

7. But we were not save from _______ and _______.

8. The _______ made their ______ outside the cave.

9. A man goes ______ without ______.

10. And he escaped from the ________.

11. Ramon Gallegos was a ________ man.

12. I heard the story when I was _______.

13. The ______ pointed beyond the ______ of the fire.

14. They’re standing in the _____, outside our camp.

15. “You can’t kill them,” said our ______. “They’re already ______.”

Exercise 2. Answer the questions.

1. Where did the action take place?

2. Was it a night or a day?

3. Who came up to the fire?

4. Was he an enemy or a friend?

5. What story did he tell?

6. What were the names of the four men?

7. How did they die?

8. Was the story a true one? Why do you think so?

9. Do you think the events could really happen?

10. Why did all the four men commit suicide?

Exercise 3. Put the sentences in the right order.

_____ What kind of fools walk around here at night?

_____ I laid the body of Ramon Gallegos on the ground and put a handkerchief

over his face.

_____The captain of our group took hold of the man’s arm.

_____ This stranger is telling us the same story.

_____ One of the men in our group stood up suddenly.

_____ “We stayed in that cave for three days and three nights,” said the stranger.

_____ We saw the light of their camp fire.

_____ The stranger took no notice of these words.

_____ “We had come many miles,” the stranger went on.

_____ “For men came here thirty years ago,” the stranger said.

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