Prison for Children is a 1987 made-for-TV movie starring John Ritter, Betty Thomas, and Josh Brolin. It premiered March 14, 1987, on the CBS television network.
Plot
John Parsons (Raphael Sbarge) is a recently orphaned 16-year-old boy in New Mexico. He lives on the ranch where his parents worked with his older brother Chris (Josh Brolin). Because Chris is over the age of 18 and able to become John's legal guardian, the two make plans for a life together until John comes of legal age.
Because the boys are tenant workers, Mr. Platt, who owns the ranch, takes advantage of the situation by cruelly subjecting the boys to threats of eviction if they don't perform excessive amounts of work. After they stand up to him, Chris is killed after being shot down from his horse by Platt. Hysterical after losing the last of his family, John starts a fire at the ranch that quickly goes out of control and consumes much of the Pratt homestead.
Platt immediately blames John for the fire, and John is taken into custody for a juvenile hearing. John's attorney successfully proves that the fire was not intentionally set, and John is acquitted. However, the judge, citing the fact that John has no more immediate family with whom he can be placed, and no suitable foster home can be found for him, he is by definition homeless, making him a possible threat to society. The judge decides to sentence him to the Sierra Mesa Industrial School for Boys, ordering him to remain there until his 21st birthday.
John and his fellow incoming inmates are introduced to David Royce (Ritter), the facility's new superintendent. Unlike his predecessors, Royce is an idealistic leader who believes that his charges are not simply hardened criminals, but also victims of circumstance like John. A teacher at the school, Angela Brannon (Thomas), shares Royce's views and they join forces to inspire change at the underfunded facility.
However, their efforts are rebuffed at every turn, by legal red tape, and a corrupt system. John also is exposed to the real-life realities of prison life, such as rape, drug abuse, sadistic guards and psychopathic inmates. When it appears that Royce begins to succumb to the cruelties of the bureaucracy controlling the prison, he decides to come into a darkened ward with the youngest inmates one evening, and takes a seat as the boys rest. One by one, each boy gets from his bunk and sits, lays or cuddles next to him. Fighting tears, Royce sees this as a sign that he must not give up his fight for change, and returns to his duties now more determined than ever.