"Kids inside the Women's Correctional Facility are punished for normal behavior like waking up in the middle of the night - because they end up waking up everyone else inside the cramped sleeping quarters. School age kids leave the prison each day to attend regular schools but nonetheless suffer isolation from their peers. Another problem: the lack of 24-hour medical care inside the prison. Worse, kids must sometimes share mom's punishment for bad behavior, like solitary confinement."

My point: these kids are up against more than just "the occasional prison riot." I would also add, to the above paragraph, a question about the long-term psychological consequences of growing up in confinement. Perhaps a kid staying with his or her parent for a brief sentence is one thing, but what about the children whose parents' are in for longer terms? And, as others have asked upthread, does the nature of the crime committed affect our perception of whether this is good for the child?

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This article raises so many questions for me.

Who are these women and what 'crimes' did they commit?

Who and where are their extended families?

What is the mental health status of these women?

......

I'm gonna quit now.

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