A very interesting incident occurred in the penal system of New York State - "Harvard debate team loses to prison debate team." (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/02/1427151/-Harvard-debate-team-loses-to-prison-debate-team)
A debate team formed in a prison facility in New York State defeated the debate team from Harvard University. The prisoners were prepared in a program created by Bard College and they accomplished this feat without access to the internet. (http://bpi.bard.edu/ )
Last year, New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced plans to increase funding for prisoners to earn college degrees during their incarceration.
Georgia has one of the highest recidivism rates in the country and in our state, 1 in 13 residents is either incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. However, educational opportunities are not offered and the cycle continues to repeat itself. L.C."Buster" Evans, assistant commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections, said: "It has been many years, if ever, since an inmate has completed his or her high school diploma while incarcerated in a state correctional facility for adults."
I say our state can and should do much, much more.
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ReplyDeleteThe Grayowler,
ReplyDeleteDr. Evans used to be the Forsyth County School Superintendent. Without getting too personal I will tell you that one of my family members worked with him on a daily basis. This being said, I fully believe that he will be able to restructure the prison system in Georgia.
That being said, I completely agree with the fact that our prison system needs to be revamped. I understand that we have seen an increase in inmates in the past several years and while they are in prison, they are still human and they still deserve the right to live a semi-ordinary life, and that includes an education.
Nice post!
Ali :)
The Grayowler,
ReplyDeleteI like this article, my mother used to work at a correctional facility and one thing that always came up among the deputies is that prisoners possessed a limited vocabulary and usually little education. Many of them start early in life going through the prison system.
Anyway I completely agree that something more needs to be done to help these people. The cyclical incarceration has got to be put to an end somehow. I understand that they are to be punished but its clear that something more must be done if we wish to reintegrate them into society as well as making them understand what they were doing is unacceptable.
Dale Carnegie mentions the power of intrinsic motivation which I believe they may be lacking.The issue is how do you instill these values into an individual without them wanting to change? Clearly there are many that want which is made evident by your article to but its getting to the rest that keeps the criminal justice system tied up.