Max Security Prison's Debate Team Bests Harvard

[MentalGiant]

I would have expected the intelligent people to rather want to be poor than a criminal that's how I feel!

When it comes down to, say, help your mother put food on the table for your younger siblings by selling some drugs or burglarize a house because your 13/14/15 and can't legally work, what would you do? That's the age many of these offenders get caught up in the system, and it's difficult for them to get out. And that's the reality for many low-income children growing up in bad areas. They get in the system young and the day they turn 18 (sometimes younger they're charged as adults here in the US), all their arrests become public record. Even if they want to turn their life around as adults, they have a lengthy history, possibly felonies that would be very negative to potential employers (like burglary, violent offenses, fraud ext...). Who wants to hire a burglar or a armed robber no matter how intelligent/talented they are?