Effects of Justice System on Children & Families

Effects of Justice System on Children & Families Kathryn Naggie American Intercontinental University
March 27, 2011 English Composition 107

The Effects of the Justice System on Children and Families can be very damaging. It is dealt with everyday in my household. A parent being in prison is one of the hardest things that a child can go through. My daughter doesn’t understand why she can’t talk to or see her dad. Having her dad in prison is hard for my 6 year old to deal with.

The only people that understand what I go through everyday are other parents or grandparents in my situation. My 6 year old daughter Breeana is having a really hard time adjusting to her dad being in prison. One of the things that I deal with on a daily basis, is she doesn’t sleep well. Every night she cries herself to sleep worrying about her dad. Most nights she wakes up screaming because she has had a nightmare about her dad either being hurt or killed in prison. I know that he was the one that put himself in there for the bad things he did but she really doesn’t understand that. She always wants to know why he can’t leave to come and see her. I just tell her that it doesn’t work that way, that he can’t leave till the judge says so or until he has served his time.
There are so many children that have a parent or both parents in prison. Other kids can be so cruel when they find out about a situation like this. There have been some days that she gets in trouble at school and has to go to the principals’ office. There was one little boy that picked on her almost every day until I finally went to the school and had a talk with the principal. The little boy would always tell her that her daddy is a jailbird and when she got older she was going to be one to. I know it’s not something that people think about every day, but if his parents would have had a talk with him telling him that it’s not nice to say the things he did, maybe it wouldn’t have escalated the way it did. She also has a lot of trouble concentrating on her work because she worries about her daddy.
The whole situation with her dad being in prison is really hard on Breeana, but she always wants to know why her daddy doesn’t have anything to do with her. She has written him all kinds of letters but he has never written her back. It’s like he doesn’t care, like he doesn’t want anything to do with her and that really breaks her heart. Another thing is that he has never called to check on her and he has our phone number and my parents’ phone number. In August, 2010 she had to have surgery and I made it a point to call his sister and let her know so she could tell him and he still didn’t get in contact with her.
In conclusion, the effects of the justice system on families and children is a really sad situation. I know that the person puts themselves in prison for the bad things they do but they don’t realize the effects it has on their children and the rest of the family. Like in Breeana’s situation, if her dad knew what I went through every day, like the questions she asks, the crying, the nightmares and everything else that I deal with he would try to stay out of trouble.

REFERENCES

www.recomparison.com/comparisons/100305/nike-vs-adidas/ Retrieved February 4, 2011

References: www.recomparison.com/comparisons/100305/nike-vs-adidas/ Retrieved February 4, 2011