Some of these kids talk about catching a case like it was going to a Boy Scout Meeting. Prison has become a norm, and no one’s paying attention.
—Carl Taylor, Michigan State University activist and scholar, quoted in today’s Detroit Free Press.
Not too long ago, a federal lawsuit was brought against the Michigan Department of Corrections for violating the rights of our under-educated prisoners below the age of twenty-one. With the help of a prisoner advocacy group, these youngsters were given more than the standard 1 1/2 hours of schooling per day. Do you think they were eternally grateful for this? Do you think they actually cared? My observations beg to differ. Ninety-some percent of the youngsters I encounter complain about having an extra class. They don’t give a rat’s ass about people in the free world having their best interests at heart. “I should get an extra fifty-nine cents a day for the additional class session,” I often hear.
Never mind that most of them attend the prison school to socialize, as if they’re trying to relive those middle school or junior high school years. “Studying”—what’s that? You’re the teacher dammit! Teach me! With arms crossed, these—for lack of a better description—chair-slouchers erect an impenetrable fortress while waiting for you to serve up a pencil, paper, and a book.
I had one youngster complaining about his hepatitis medication. I don’t feel well, he said, looking for a reason to miss class. I told him, I am not a doctor. No sympathy from me. On the way to the bathroom, within sight of the officer’s station, he’d shove his finger down his throat to induce vommitting. After a few incidents, the officer approached me and said, You need to do something about so and so. I can’t have him puking in my hallway. We already knew this young man’s days of incarceration would soon be over. Light at the end of the tunnel came suddenly—a hard to come by parole date, a school exemption included (an easy way to circumvent the “No GED, No Parole” law). Good riddance and good luck.
Last I heard, this inmate enjoyed five or six days of freedom. They caught him in possession of heroin, an obvious parole violation and a nice avenue for spreading his hepatitis with a shared dirty needle. He and his druggy friends are doing much more than just catching cases; I’d say they’re Eagle Scouts by now.
14 comments:
I can't believe that there was a law suit over their education. If they really cared about education that might be different... but obviously they don't.
I have enjoyed your blog for some time now, and I do not know how you still seem to be sane doing what you do. I can not imagine trying to teach to kids who do not want to learn. I'm just curious, has there been a student that has changed their life around that you had in a class ever?
Jr, I marvel at how you continue to teach day after day. When will you be up for parole? I'm curious too about Ruth's question.
Hi, JR. Of course, I don't work in a prison, but I do work in a very tough "inner city" type school. Our superintendent calls it "the Peace Corp." It's a challenge to get any teaching done let alone taken seriously by the students. Once in a while, I see a bright spot, ray of hope for a student. Survival is the main theme here to be taught. But--you know, at this point in my life, I wouldn't work anyplace else. Donnetta
I didnt need to read much of this to formulate and opinion.
I believe that the fact that the youngsters were so undereducated may have lead to the pah that they chose.
as for the fact that they were not greatfull... I wasnt greatfull for school either untill my education ment something to me
Ruth,
I can not say for sure whether I've made a difference in any of my students' lives. What keeps me going are those tiny incremental moments, those teachable moments, where a student's rather dull light begins to spark.
O me gosh, such horrid times.
Ghee JR you have opened my eyes too so much.(thanks for that)
I agree with Ruth--I don't know how you do it. It just seems so damned depressing.
So often, anything that seems free is underapreciated. I have students whose schooling is being paid for by the government who miss class all the time. Our school once offered free training for taking the GRE and MCAT and no one came. Until we started charging. Then they thought it was worth it. Not long ago I heard a story about a guy who got a new refrigerator and put his old one out with a sign on it that said, "Works and is free." No one touched it until he put a sign up saying "50 bucks." Someone promptly stole it.
Well JR, great things can come from a spark, so I know you are changing some lives there. God bless you for doing that.
Nah, you must be affecting many - even if it isn't immediately apparent. Many are lost causes, but somewhere down the line many are sure to remember you.
Ther problem is that you probably won't ever see them in their improved, altered state. Only the real badduns come back.
JR. You know Danny is right. Great synopsis though. You do good work. MW :-)
"Hepatitis medication" -- nice details. I didn't even know there was medication for it. It is strange how in the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, many people could care less about learning or reading or writing, or thinking.
Jim, I would have sent him to his cell to rot. --Bro, Ron
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