Burning Down the House Quotes

“These are the lessons young people who are locked up learn instead: to close off their emotions, shut down their intellect, quell their individuality, avoid forming connections, and view all interactions through the prism of Power.”
― Nell Bernstein, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison

“But in the through-the-looking-glass world of the juvenile prison, anything short of physical force or coercion is described by the Justice Department as “sexual relations”—a term that implies a kind of consent that minors are legally unable to grant. That the very agency charged with protecting the rights of incarcerated youth would misconstrue, or misrepresent, the law—which makes clear that there is no such thing as “sexual relations” between adults and minors over whom they have authority—speaks volumes about the culture of impunity and victim blaming that persists to this day, no matter how many new laws and regulations are put in place.”
― Nell Bernstein, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison

“Only a handful of states, it turns out, have not been determined to have systematically brutalized the youth in their care. A review of all fifty states found only eight where there was not conclusive evidence of system-wide mistreatment.”
― Nell Bernstein, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison

“The kids I’ve seen make it have followed various trajectories, but they all have a consistent relationship with at least one trusted adult.”
― Nell Bernstein, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison