JUVENILES: Kids need help in hall

They keep saying we need a new jail. All that would do is increase costs and taxes to law-abiding citizens. What we need to do is reduce bonds and start issuing tickets for smaller offenses with court dates.

The next thing we need to do is put some kind of programming system in juvenile hall. Those kids are locked up in single cells for 23 hours a day with no counseling. They have these programs in the adult jail and they are done voluntarily. If we have to spend taxpayer money, let’s do it at the juvenile level and try to stop it before they end up in the adult system. A friend’s 17-year-old boy just topped his time so he would have no probation, and as soon as he got out he went straight to the drug house. He was a great athlete and a good kid, but the system did nothing to help him.

Let’s start with the youth and try to fix them first. Let’s support the juvenile system and get these kids some kind of counseling and programming, and maybe the adult jail will become less crowded.

CLAY HAWKINS

Coeur d’Alene