One of the aspects that makes being a journalist a rewarding job is the few chances one gets to make a social difference through the medium of creating awareness and bringing to the forefront a social issue that wasn't previously in the spotlight.
For a while I've been concerned with the increasing amount of Somali youth both here in the US as well as in Europe who keep getting into trouble and often end up in prison. Somali youth have been in the media for numerous other reasons including ongoing associations with gang violence and acts of terrorism but these often dim into the distance once the media interest has died. Meanwhile this growing problem of youth entering Western prisons by hundreds seems to be either unnoticed or less important than the previous issues.
In the mean time the parents, families and communities of these youngsters that are in prison continue to face harships that many a times go unnoticed.
The reports above focus on the youth in the US prisons and the social implications of their imprisonment.
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