by Rebecca Bailey

Created on: May 15, 2008

Yes, I believe as a parent and as a juvenile corrections officer that children should be allowed to visit and tour prisons. Everyday when your children go to school they are influenced by their peers, pressured to fit in, to be cool, to chose a specific style of clothing or music, to define themselves as everyone else has defined themselves. These pressures also lead into more life threatening choices such as whether to choose drugs, alcohol, violence, gangs, and sexual exploits; these choices that have been glamorized by music, television, games and the world around us. Youth of today should be aware of the unglamorous side of these choices.

I believe that youth of today would be a little more wary about their decisions if they were aware of the dangers that they would be faced with in prisons. If they were able to go into the intake room and be searched, made to put on those orange jumpsuits and walked down those hard cement waxed floors with dark stains riddled throughout the building. Made to look at the institutional beige walls, smell the faint aroma of urine and feces as they passed by dorm after dorm, listen to the slam of the crash gates behind them. Allow these youth to wonder if and when they may see the light of day just one more time; allow them to wonder will mom or dad come on visitation day, what will happen to me when I walk through the door to my new home (even if its for a short time). I believe that if these youth are able to see the violence that they could be subjected to and the fear that is always an underlying factor when locked up that they may just decide to think a little harder about doing drugs, drinking alcohol, joining gangs and other types of violence.

I have seen many boys in juvenile facilities that have said, "If I knew it would be like this I wouldn't have done some of the things I have done. The 90 day programs aren't like this in any way. They are a joke, but this is serious." Bringing to my mind that if they had been able to see the unglamorous side of drugs, alcohol, violence and gangs they may have chosen a different path. In fact many of these youth chose to reform their lifestyle to accommodate a better life for themselves and their families.

Yes, I do believe that youth should be allowed to visit and tour prisons so they are able to see the glamorized life as the unglamorous prison that it really could be.

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