Reflection

I have often wondered what these men could have done to land in this desolate place.  In the classroom most of them seem like students ready to learn, discuss, and pay attention.  We have the average problems any class would deal with, talking over one another, noise level, getting everyone’s attention and coming up with material that will drive them towards conversation.  I was told that many of the people who come to prison are sentenced on drug charges, just regular Joes that get caught up in the wrong business. 

 

I have been reading prison writing from all over the country by both men and women of all ages and backgrounds.  It gives me a small insight to the inner workings of their motivation, and conditions that they might have faced outside the prison walls. 

 

In one session we discussed child soldiers and read some pieces describing a child soldier’s experience being taken from their home by force and made to kill, rape and torture.  One of the men was taken back by the numbers and pointed out how these children had no choice.  He was moved by the narrative and poem.  Another man made a very interesting point by asking the class and tutors what choice does a kid have if he is raised in the ghetto, is poor, doesn’t have parents, and is surrounded by the slums with no escape?  He is then a victim of his socio-economic class and must turn to a life of crime in order to survive. 

 

In the prison writing I have been reading I get a glimpse into these personal childhood hells, it is a world of corruption, violence, gangs, rape and complete insecurity.  I can see the lack of choice, and hope for a brighter future.  So many people can counter this by talking about the organizations, groups, and social structures that are set up to help and assist.  But how available are they?  And just how helpful are they?  I have worked in many public school settings to know that the system can and will give up on you.  That teachers, social workers and administrators don’t deal with a certain amount of ‘bad’.  This is especially true for poor minority children who don’t have stable homes, food, healthy lifestyles and support. 

 

It is not a funny coincidence that the majority of this classroom is African American and Latino.  I was asking some of the prisoners about Asian Americans and the response is that “Sing-Sing is like Chinatown” and prisons on the west coast are filled with Asian prisoners.  So for those who preach and push the model minority card there are obviously many Asian Americans that slip through the cracks.  I look into the faces of the men in my class and I wonder how many of them have had a comfortable bed to sleep in at night, a nice meal, healthcare, or caring/concerned individuals that reached out to them.  Yes there are the sickos in the world but I promise you that most of these men are just regular guys that made a mistake. 

Being around these men have altered the way I look at the world for the better.  I hope that

they will find new hope and intellectual freedom from what I teach them.