I saw this special on 48 Hours and it sort of reminded me of Scared Straight. I think every kid in trouble should watch it because its the most cautionary tale I have ever seen of what happens if you don't wise up and straighten up! Juan Carlos Castro was born on the streets, his mother was a prostitute and he basically had no one to turn to. He was one of the toughest street kids in Tampa at only 14! The story opens as a compassionate cop arrests him and has him put in a boot camp for troubled teens. He flourishes under the guidance of a tough but caring police drill sergeant. A social worker studying juvenile delinquency decides to take him in and give him a home, but he starts messing up and a fails a drug test, he gets sent back to boot camp and then the social worker decides to give him another chance. What does he do? Five days before his probation is up (five days!) he steals a car and gets arrested. He gets probation again and then goes back to Florida and gets arrested. Castro is sentenced to a year in prison and upon release is classified a repeat offender. Under the states tough new laws, he can be sentenced to life with no parole if convicted of a crime. This detective who first arrested him gets him a job teaching kids, but he starts using cocaine and quits his job. He gets arrested for purse snatching and for two armed robberies. Unlike most documentaries on troubled kids that I have seen, this one has a completely downbeat and unhappy ending. Juan Castro is only faced with two choices. If convicted, it is life with no parole, if he pleads guilty, he gets 35 years with no parole and no appeal. He will be in prison until the year 2033 when he is 54 years old. The last two images are the detective who tried so hard to help him crying in the hallway after he is sentenced and the last shot of this poor dumb kid sitting alone in a barren cell. This is not a cheerful story by any means, but kids need to see it. It makes me angry that this dumb kid had so many chances to go straight that so many other kids never have and he wasn't smart enough to see it!