The Boston Globe    Solitary confinement even more devastating
for young prisoners  Adrian Walker explored the psychological
damage solitary confinement can do to adults (“Questioning
isolation’s price,” Metro, Jan. 16). But it is even more
devastating for kids. Massachusetts automatically tries 17-year-
olds as adults, no matter how minor the charges against them.
They await trial and serve sentences in adult facilities, where
they are routinely placed in solitary confinement. That’s 23
hours a day without human contact for a kid who is likely
already terrified.  The American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry opposes holding minors in solitary confinement. The
risks of depression, anxiety, and psychosis facing anyone in
isolation are more severe for adolescents, and they dramatically
increase their risk of suicide. In 1990, the United Nations
General Assembly called for an end to solitary confinement of
juveniles, a practice the UN included on a list of “cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment.”  Inst