Children are the easiest and safest target for abuse because they cannot get even. Children abused by their parents or relatives will never hurt their abusers because their families are the only source of love and affection there is. In 1988, 1 of every 10 children in the US was molested by a trusted family member.[1] Now, because of the increased stress in life (war in Iraq, high oil prices, economic instability, etc.), the number of sexually abused children is much higher.[2]

In California, children are the least powerful and the most discriminated and abused human beings: they have neither free education, nor free health services, nor free legal services, and they cannot work and make money, except in rare circumstances. Even if they make some money, their guardians or parents control the money. That’s why abused children hurt and kill themselves: an act of hurting or killing oneself is an exercise of power. When no other action of power is available, the ultimate power of taking your own life gives a person the highest pleasure and satisfaction. Consequently, when abused children reach adolescence and realize that they have the power to kill themselves, they fantasize about suicide and many of them exercise this ultimate power.

The logical chain is as follows: married parents change with time and stop loving each other. They have extreme stress from work and life (37% of employees in the US are bullied at work[3]) plus they have to go to the trial court to get a divorce. Parents need to provide for their children and, consequently, over 95% of parents in California cannot afford continuous legal representation. When parents become self-represented, they lose their human identity in the eyes of the trial judge and the court system. As non-humans, they get denigrated, humiliated, and abused by the court system. Consequently, parents become extremely distressed and either abuse their children or get withdrawn for many months or even years.

Lack of parental attention and prolonged stress during childhood and adolescence make children more vulnerable to depression and addictions through epigenetic mechanisms.[4] Prolonged stress also damages cognitive functioning and memory through epigenetic mechanisms[5], interfering with the normal development of the prefrontal cortex and amygdala areas of the brain[6]. An average divorce in California lasts about 3 years[7]. After 3 years of abuse or neglect, children become depressed and suicidal or aggressive and violent[8] towards their peers, younger siblings, or pets. When they reach adolescence, they are likely to either commit suicide or become antisocial.

Children learn the environment by following an example provided by adults. Learning and novelty seeking behavior is necessary for survival and, therefore, is adaptable. On the neurological level, learning and novelty seeking behavior is mediated by neurotransmitter dopamine[9] and involves an increased activity in the pleasure-reward circuitry of the brain. Also, learning and novelty seeking helps combat stress, anxiety, and memory loss through epigenetic mechanisms[10]. Children feel pleasure and reward from learning and novelty seeking and some, like many scientists, for example, can even become addicted to this behavior.

Children mostly learn by example and mimic adults by experimentation as children prepare for adult life. Children in California will inevitably try alcohol and illegal drugs in adolescence because adults frequently use them and they are widely available. Many juveniles will develop an addiction to alcohol and drugs simply because they are predisposed through genetics or because their brain epigenetics makes them extremely vulnerable[11]. Stress and resulting inhibition of cognition diminish one’s awareness of developing an addiction. As a result of stress and addictions, children’s overall cognition and, therefore, conscience and social behavior get suppressed. Antisocial actions lead children into the juvenile court and into jails, where children get more abused and stressed and become more violent and antisocial.

Pursuant to the US Constitution, Amendment XIII, ratified by California on December 15, 1865, slavery is legalized in the US and, accordingly, in California as a punishment turning all prisoners, including children, into slaves and, consequently, property of the State of California.

The need to maintain security in prisons makes it necessary to have bright lights at all times, which necessarily disturbs the natural sleeping pattern and, consequently, the development and normal functioning of the brain regions such as amygdala, pituitary, prefrontal cortex and other areas of the brain.[12]

As a result of damaged and malfunctioning amygdala, pituitary, and prefrontal cortex, jailed children become permanently socially disabled expressing constant aggressive and violent behavior[13]. Finally, they become repeated offenders and end up in jails for long periods of time.

In 2006, the FBI estimated that 14,380,370 arrests occurred nationwide for all offenses (except traffic violations), of which 611,523 were for violent crimes, and 1,540,297 were for property crimes. In 2006, 76.3 percent of all persons arrested were male, 82.2 percent of persons arrested for violent crime were male, and 68.8 percent of persons arrested for property crime were male[14].

Law enforcement made more arrests [in the US] for drug abuse violations in 2006 (an estimated 1.9 million arrests, or 13.1 percent of the total number of arrests) than for any other offense[15].

There is absolutely no scientific or medical basis for distinguishing between an addiction to power or sweets and an addiction to cocaine[16] or any other drugs, legal or illegal. Any addiction is a biological brain disease and not a failure of character or willpower.

Arrests of juveniles (under 18 years of age) [in the US] for murder rose 3.4 percent in 2006 compared with 2005 arrest data; for robbery, arrests of juveniles increased 18.9 percent over the same 2-year period.

A special supplement to the [FBI] 2004 report showed that the volume of juvenile arrests for drug abuse violations [in the US] involving all drug types, collectively, increased 22.9 percent in the 10-year period from 1994 to 2003 (no update was provided in the 2005 report)[17].

“With at least 2,381 children sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, the US is the only remaining nation continuing to impose the sentence, which violates international law [U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child]”[18].

… Children of color in the US are 10 times more likely to receive life without parole than white child offenders. In some states, including California, the rate is 20 to 1”[19].

As the ultimate result, the California court system grows a huge number of imprisoned slaves, 170,000 in 2008[20], which, of course, is good for the tyrants and the ones who use the slave labor.

            The state and federal government officials increasingly complain about insufficient funds to run the prisons to justify their “outsourcing” of prison management to privately run “contractors”. By the means of this “outsourcing”, private prison companies get access to the source and virtually unlimited use of the slave labor.

Naturally, government officials involved in such “outsourcing” indirectly and directly benefit and share profits from the slave labor. For example, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Vice President Dick Cheney were indicted in connection with privately run federal detention centers in Willacy County, Texas. Dick Cheney has personal investments in the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies.[21]

For more information on slavery in the US and the companies that use slave labor in the US see http://www.injusticeline.com/slave2.html

[1] Dr. Forward, S. (1990) Toxic Parents. Bantam Books, p.144-152., p.140.

[2] See also: Hamilton, M.A. (2008) Justice Denied- What America Must Do To Protect Its Children

[3] Kim, J.N. (2008) The Cubicle Bully. Scientific American Mind, July/July 2008, p.13.

[4] Higgins, E.S. (2008) The New Genetics of Mental Illness. Scientific American Mind, June/July 2008, p.41-47.

[5] Levine, A. (2008) Unmasking Memory Genes. Scientific American Mind, June/July 2008, p.49-51.

[6] Canli, T. (2008) The Character Code. Genes of the Psyche. Scientific American Mind, February/May 2008, p.53 at p.56.

[7] Source: personal experience, legal research (published cases), and surveys of friends.

[8] Canli, T. (2008) The Character Code. Genes of the Psyche. Scientific American Mind, February/May 2008, p.53 at p.56.

[9] Canli, T. (2008) The Character Code. Genes of the Psyche. Scientific American Mind, February/May 2008, p.53 at p.56.

[10] Levine, A. (2008) Unmasking Memory Genes. Scientific American Mind, June/July 2008, p.49-51.

[11] Higgins, E.S. (2008) The New Genetics of Mental Illness. Scientific American Mind, June/July 2008, p.41 at p. 45-46.

[12] Leitzell, K. (2008) Irritable? Take a Nap. Sleep Deprivation Leads to Heightened Emotions. Scientific American Mind, February/May 2008, p.10.

[13] Canli, T. (2008) The Character Code. Genes of the Psyche. Scientific American Mind, February/May 2008, p.53 at p.56.

[14] Source: Official FBI Report on Crime in the US in 2006 found at http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2006/02/14/in_depth_us/frameset1317384.shtml

[15] Source: Official FBI Report on Crime in the US in 2006 found at http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2006/02/14/in_depth_us/frameset1317384.shtml

[16] Sweets activate pleasure and reward pathways in the brain and, therefore, are addictive. Experiments with rats showed that sugar is more addictive than cocaine (cocaine-addicted rats switched to sugar). See Dvoskin, R. (2008) Sweeter Than Cocaine. Scientific American Mind, April/May 2008, p.16; also Conti, L. (2008) Faux Sugar: Bittersweet. Scientific American Mind, June/July 2008, p. 14.

[17] Source: Official FBI Report on Crime in the US in 2006 found at http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2006/02/14/in_depth_us/frameset1317384.shtml

[18] “Sentencing Children to Die in Prison” in USFmagazine, Spring 2008, p.8.

[19] “Sentencing Children to Die in Prison” in USFmagazine, Spring 2008, p.8.

[20] Hatton, N. (2008) A Voice for Prison Reform. USFmagazine, Spring 2008, p.14.