Documentary Description
Each year in Britain, we lock up 2,000 school-age children. Vinney
Green Secure Unit locks up some of the youngest and the most troubled;
the kids no one else can manage - whether they are a danger to each
other, or a danger to themselves. Filmed over a year, with unprecedented
access to the unit, the children and the staff who care for them, this
extraordinary series tells their stories and finds out what's being done
to set them straight. It documents the journeys of boys and girls who
are behind bars, and follows the daily life at Vinney Green as the staff
try to change them.
Vinney Green houses 24 children aged from 10 to 17. Some have
committed very serious crimes. Others began getting into trouble when
they were at primary school. Some are sent here for their own
protection. And for some, simply the chaos of their lives has led them
down the wrong path. For most this is their last chance - and an
opportunity to change. In their own words, they explain what it's like
to be locked up while you're still a child.
This film follows three of the youngest boys in Vinney Green, who
started getting into serious trouble when they were just nine years old.
Kalem has been inside the longest and faces spending his teenage years
behind bars - "I went the down the wrong way". Kieran is there for the
second time, but with only a few weeks at the unit it will be hard for
the staff to have any effect. Tali has just arrived, but is so volatile
he's struggling to fit in - "I'm not a guy that likes people around me
24/7 - I'm a guy that likes being free so it's hard for me..." .
Are they being locked up to punish them or change them? And can Vinney Green turn them around?
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