The Narrative Behind Youth Detention with Youth Justice Mentor Jye Cardona

Youth detention is institutionalising young men from an early age - feeding a cycle of incarceration that repeats over generations.

Although only around 5% of Australians aged 10-17 are indigenous, they account for around 50% of those being kept in youth detention nationwide - and in the Northern Territory it’s close to 100%...

Jye Cardona grew up being conditioned to hate authority and watched his friends go in and out of the youth justice system.

Now he works in detention centres running programs to get through to the kids who feel just as angry and neglected as he did.

Jye has had to deal with post traumatic stress from his young life and learn how to reshape his perceptions.

It’s been a tough journey thats fuelled the fire within him to be there for others facing similar struggles.