“Girls Incarcerated” offers significant insight into the lives of imprisoned teens

By Elora Brow

Online Opinion Editor

The new Netflix Original series, “Girls Incarcerated” offers viewers a rare glimpse at the reality of juvenile correctional facilities.

“Girls Incarcerated” gives a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of female teenagers in Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility where cameras follow the girls from morning until night, giving a complete rundown of what daily life in the facility is like. The girls whose lives the show follows have been admitted to this correctional facility for various reasons such as theft, drug abuse, drug trafficking, underage drinking, and violence.

This new Netflix Original is one season long and contains eight consecutive episodes that take place in Madison, Indiana. Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility served as both a correctional facility and a school for the girls, providing them with a high school education. In Oct. 2017, the facility closed and the teenage inmates were moved to a different facility in order to accommodate an increase in adult female inmates in the nearby Madison Correctional Facility.

Some of the girls such as Brianna Guerra and Aubrey Wilson have longer features than the other girls and the viewer gets to know more about them. This allows the audience to feel more connected to these girls and understand their lives a little better.  

As most of the girls are under 18, there are many details from their lives that have to be left out. This omission leaves the audience with consistent question marks as there are many parts of stories that are never revealed. Although these gaps create a barrier between the girls and the audience, they are completely understandable as they are underage.

“Girls Incarcerated” allows viewers to see the “delinquent” girls in a new light. Many of them have been negatively influenced from a young age by their peers and family members. Some of the girls share very personal stories about experiences such as abuse, helping the viewer reject the public opinion that the girls are “delinquents” and nothing else. The show makes the viewer feel sympathy for these girls rather than shunning them for their misbehavior.

The Madison Juvenile Correctional facility is unique in the sense that the correctional officers and teachers never refer to the girls as inmates, delinquents, or prisoners. They are simply referred to as students because the workers believe that the girls being in this facility is an opportunity for learning. This label helps the viewer see each individual as more of a normal teenager than a criminal.

Throughout the eight episodes, the viewer is lucky to see some of these girls be released from the facility back into society, giving the viewers hope that the girls will be able to turn their lives around. However, as the girls are released, the show does not sugar-coat their situations, and makes it clear that it would be easy for the girls to revert back to their negative behaviors, adding to the authenticity of the show.

“Girls Incarcerated” is an eye-opening show with many heart-touching stories. The show is both enjoyable to watch and very educational, as it enlightens viewers about the current state of our nation’s juvenile correctional systems, and the lives of their inmates.

“Girls Incarcerated” is available for viewing on Netflix and is appropriate for ages 15 and older, as it contains sensitive subjects and vulgar language.