Reclaiming Our Children offers solutions to this downward moral spiral of today’s youth. Changes must occur in: 1) national government; 2) the entertainment industry; 3) educational systems; 4) penal systems; 5) American culture; 6) small businesses; 7) the current tax system.
I found Reclaiming Our Children a bit disturbing to read and justly so, but nevertheless I learned many lessons from it. I was unaware of how quickly the revolving door returns some people, who have committed injustices, back into society without any real preparation for a hopeful, challenging, changed life.
In a real sense, I learned that jails and prisons simply babysit prisoners until their release date. Some offer educational programs and adequate recreation, but according to Dixon, few psychologically prepare about-to-be-released inmates for the challenges and prejudice they are about to face, often for the rest of their lives.
In the case of the book's author, he admittedly picked himself up by his own bootstraps seeking — through books and education — information that would change his spiritual mindset to an extremely positive set of values that would carry him through life.
I would 
recommend Reclaiming Our Children to every reader; to psychologists, ministers, social workers, politicians, and wardens, because every one of us in the United States is concerned, openly or secretly, about the demoralization of our country.
We’ve shared Nixon's Watergate, Clinton’s Sex Scandal, Bush’s War, The Twin Towers, Columbine, Enron, and a host of other unforgettable moments in our lives. We've just lived through the killing spree that occurred a few days ago at a fitness center near Pittsburgh.
Yet, we forget that all involved in these unforgivable moments were at one time children — yes, children — youths who started out in the image of God. Dixon’s easy to read book might help change attitudes toward those in prison. It might give inmates a sense of hope and inspire them to change their values before returning to society. Better still, it may goad those in authority to provide needed societal changes to halt mental imprisonment before it occurs.
Article comments
1 - DHFabian
America collectively decided that our poor
are dispensable. We have been subjected to a steady drum beat of anti-poor rhetoric for some 30+ years now, via the media and political leadership. Is it any wonder that youth born into our anti-poor culture would have no sense of hope? By the time they reach high school, many have realized that there is no way out of poverty for them, no matter how hard they try. Every door is shut. The best students can earn enough scholarships for college, thereby working their way out of poverty, but by definition, most of us are simply average. By the time these kids become teens, they start realizing that they have no future, no matter what. There is nothing to work toward or for. The general public grossly underestimates the hell of being poor in the US today. The bottom line is that those who grow up poor today, in our post-welfare "reform" era, understand that (if they commit a serious crime) the worse that can happen is that they'll die, and they have no fear of death. Prison happens, and it's bad, but it's debatable whether it's worse than life on the streets.
People don't like it, and scream that "Poverty is no excuse!" So? That doesn't change anything. When every door is locked and there's nowhere to go, you take chances. They have no regard for victims who, after all, never had any regard for them or their families.