End Solitary

The Opinion Pages | Op-Ed Contributor New York Times
End Solitary Confinement for Teenagers

By IAN M. KYSELDEC. 16, 2014

SOLITARY confinement can be psychologically damaging for any inmate, but it is especially perverse when it is used to discipline children and teenagers. At juvenile detention centers and adult prisons and jails across the country, minors are locked in isolated cells for 22 hours or more a day. Solitary confinement is used to punish misbehavior, to protect vulnerable detainees or to isolate someone who may be violent or suicidal. But this practice does more harm than good. It should end.Article