Reforming the Criminal Justice System in School

by Austin Brentley
austin.brentley@careertrainingdirectory.com
Career Training Directory Columnist

To say that the criminal justice system needs reforming is an understatement.

Thousands upon thousands of people are languishing in prison; many of them for crimes that they never committed. And it seems laughable that you could reform someone by locking them up with hundreds of other criminals. Simply through osmosis, even the most timid inmate would begin to display traits of a hardened criminal.

So Then What Is to Be Done about the Criminal Justice System?

Given that the prisons are doing very little to reform anyone, something obviously must be done; but what? One possible step would be to view the rising prison population as a symptom of a much larger problem: mainly a rising lack of educational and economic opportunities in modern America.

Try Paying Teachers More

In countries where the government spends a lot on education (example: Canada, Korea, Japan, most of northern Europe), there is relatively little crime compared to the United States. And obviously their prison populations are relatively small.

If we paid more, competition for teaching jobs would increase. Thus, the quality of teachers would also improve. Currently, in order to be a public school teacher in the United States, you have to be somewhat of a missionary; in other words, you have to be willing to take very meager pay for extremely difficult work.

Where Would the Money Come from?

A one day vacation from the Iraq war would pay for a lot of things. Or try taxing the rich instead of giving them substantial breaks. Or perhaps stop constructing new prisons and direct that money towards education. There are countless options, but politicians are very adept at misdirecting our attention to less important things like steroids in professional sports.

It’s very simple: the smarter our kids are, the less likely they are to go to prison. And the more likely they are to add real value to society. It’s a process that takes a while, but if you really want to reform the criminal justice system, education is your best bet.

About the Author

A freelance writer and researcher, Austin Brentley is an English teacher currently living and working in Yamaguchi, Japan. His previous experience includes working for a lobbying firm in his native Washington, DC and working for various record and television studios in New York. Austin holds a B.A. in history