First, the loss of life aside, it's a little bizarre that there's a school called the Bowling Brook Preparatory School and it's for youthful offenders. I mean, from the name, one could easily confuse it with a school for the children of the privileged classes.
Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services has a contract with Bowling Brook to educate juveniles in trouble with the law. Of the 170 students at the school on Tuesday, 74 were sent there by the department, said Edward Hopkins, a juvenile services spokesman.So there are 96 kids going to school with Maryland's "juveniles in trouble with the law" who weren't referred by the Department of Juvenile Services? DAMN! It sucks to be them. I mean, they must learn all kinds of things before/during/after class that aren't part of the standard curriculum. That's what happens in any school, or prison, so I'm sure it goes on at this combination school-prison.
But I will say that unlike in some other places, people with experience with this school say this is an anomaly. It's not like this is a place with a reputation for guards staging fights between youth inmates or anything. From the same AP report...
Bowling Brook has been in operation for decades and has drawn few complaints from youth advocates, who expressed surprise at Simmons' death.Either it's a great place with one huge stain on its record. Or they do a great job of cleaning everything up when people come for a visit. Either way, this kid's death is a tragedy."My experience with Bowling Brook had always been that it's a great program," said Susan B. Leviton, who directs the juvenile law clinic at the University of Maryland. "When you (visited) Bowling Brook, every kid was involved in sports, they were going to school, they were keeping facilities clean. It was a very active and engaged place."
4 comments:
Blog spammers should be sat on for hours by gargantuan, herpes-ridden incontinent prostitutes until they suffocate or drown, whichever comes first.
Agreed! I had hoped to avoid adding the word thing to stop spammers. But alas, it seems like my blog is now so popular that I have to differentiate between real people and spam people.
I would like to clarify some of the facts about Bowling Brook; This is not a school and a prison it is only a juvenile justice facility that is privately run. the other "students" are from neighboring states. If you were a Juv. Del. in MD this would be considered one of the best places to go. There are no bars or weapons on the grounds. Residents participate in sports and work towards a GED. They are allowed regular visits with family on weekends, unless they do something wrong. They also go off grounds for community activities and to attend community college classes and sporting events.
Thanks for sharing, S. And for clarifying where the other students come from.
I'm sure Bowling Brook is a great place given the alternatives, if you're a "Juv. Del. in MD".
Although a privately run juvenile justice facility where students work towards their GED sounds a lot like a school-prison to me, albeit without the bars and weapons and apparently with some decent programs.
And I'm sure most of the people who work there are caring and conscientous.
I look forward to learning more details about this tragic death.
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