Column: We all rely on second chances

Years ago I remember getting off the school bus about half a mile from my home. Something was weird about that day — I felt like the others that got off were following too closely. I was almost in the clear and just as I was about to reach the steps to the front door — shit goes down.

I was grabbed and held down at the base of a tree while three others kicked and punched me all over. I laid helpless, cried and wished I knew why I was being jumped. Finally, one took it too far and started stomping my face. With a bloody mouth, chipped tooth and tears I was able to get away and hide inside.

This changed me — I began to fight back. I became tougher, and sadly got mixed up with the wrong group. In fighting back, I became exactly like them, but so much worse.

Here is another young brown kid getting involved in gang activity and we all know how this ends. Where would I end up? Would I fall victim to this path or would I resist? Would I end up in the juvenile detention system or jail? Would I even graduate from high school?

This isn’t just my story. This is the story of thousands of people. Countless capable, intelligent folk are unable to realize their potential due to mistakes made at an early age. This experience reminds me, and I hope all of us, of the importance of second chances.

Second chances are essential to a functioning, tolerant and forgiving society. When this country has more people in jail than any other country in the world, and at a time where the very principles we stand for are up for question; we need to reassert this basic principle. Second chances matter.

When we talk about second chances we have to remember that children, as young as seven(!) in America are able to be tried and sentenced as adults to life without parole. Regardless of circumstance there is something deeply, morally wrong about this.

And what about their time in prison? According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, juveniles in the system are at substantial risk being sexual assaulted. Youth in adult prisons are 36 times more likely to commit suicide than young people in juvenile detention facilities. Suicide.

We also have to ask ourselves why is it so easy to ignore their suffering? Is it okay to lock these kids up and throw away the key because it is easier? Because we do not know how to deal with them?

Let us not forget that up until recently we allowed children to be sent to solitary confinement. This is the status quo. If we do not force discussion on these issues, they will never be addressed. Here I am doing what I often do — sitting and thinking about the one or two minor decisions I made that have rippled into large rifts in my life and the path I could have followed. Without a second chance I probably would not have the luxury of attending college or planning a future.

We cannot just ignore reality because it is easier. I urge you all to wake up to the sad realities of the world and stay woke because the future of humanity relies on us.