The importance of second chances for young people

Written By CHOOSE 180

We’re grateful to Real Change News for their partnership on quarterly op-eds! The latest op-ed, The importance of second chances for young people, was written by Jadahnee Lim, one of our participants here at CHOOSE 180.

Read Jadahnee’s article below, and check out our previous Real Change op-eds at the end.

The importance of second chances for young people

Everyone deserves a second chance. Why call a young person bad or a lost cause because of a mistake they made? Can one mistake really define someone for the rest of their life? Instead, we should give them a second chance, guide them to success and support them in becoming a better person than they were before.
The school-to-prison pipeline is when students are pushed out of school and into the criminal system.

The pipeline is filled with zero-tolerance policies that can lead to suspensions, expulsions and police involvement for small matters. Policies like these disproportionately affect many students that are people of color, have disabilities or come from a low-income background. 

Second chances, are about getting the proper help young people need to have a better future. To me, a second chance can look like trying harder to be better, proving to others you aren’t a horrible person, and that others can give you another opportunity. For example, young people who have experienced the school-to-prison pipeline can guide their struggling peers who are dealing with a similar situation. 

Safety and order is important, but when young people receive more harsh punishments, it won’t do anything but make the situation worse over time. When you give a young person the right guidance, they’ll change and help other young people be better as well. Giving young people help and support reduces misbehavior. You could ask about how things are at home, to see if something or someone is troubling them. Trusted adults can ask what kind of support a young person needs, what they want. You could help them in school. Maybe they’re having trouble in school but are too scared to ask for help. By inflicting harsher punishments, they’ll think you don’t want them to do better, which can harm their mental health and you might not even know it.

I want my community to know second chances can really change someone’s life. It’s like having a second life in a game; you retry, improve over time and become better. If you want someone to be better after they’ve done something horrible, guide them to success. We want successful people, we want to help them have a future and give them a life they’ve dreamed of, not a life they thought they’d never have in the criminal system. Thisis why I say second chances are important.

I feel this way because I want everyone to experience something good in life. Everyone always wants validation from someone, right? To feel important? To know they can rely on someone? It’ll help them in a way to know it’s okay to ask for help. Those kinds of feelings can fix someone’s mental health. 

Giving young people second chances does in fact matter, and there are many ways we can help them. For one, we can try and understand from their perspective, and give them a chance. We should also advocate for them, vote for diversion bills and pressure schools to adopt restorative justice and increase mental health resources. Teachers and students can build good healthy relationships, holding individuals accountable while resolving issues and addressing the needs of the school community.

We can help youth with their mental health by letting them share their feelings, and offer them advice to help them further.

Read our previous op-eds:

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