One of my favorite shows to watch is Lisa Ling's "This is Life." She documents controversies, taboos and silent voices in society. The perspectives she produces in the shows help us understand another angle that somehow opens our minds to acceptance and sensitivity. Blindly just mentioning the topic would lead anyone to judgment and intolerance.
Her topic last night was about the prison system in Los Angeles. I was deeply disturbed in many ways after watching this episode. First, I was disturbed by the cost of housing prisoners. There are 1.5 million people in prison in the US, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. This is the size of Philadelphia. In one prison that houses inmates who are mentally ill, the state spends $70,000 per inmate. Let me repeat that $70,000.00. This is more than an average salary in our nation! These are prisoners who are basically being paid this amount. We spend about $500-$1000 per student per year in our country. How does this make sense? There are talks now about renovating the LA prison because it has been quite a while since they have updated the facilities. Yet, there are schools in our nation, where conditions are dangerous to our students--mold, leaky ceilings where mold can develop, old equipment, etc. Teachers who have given up teaching are still teaching in the schools. Some of them might as well be wardens because they probably feel like it. How can students grow and thrive in these conditions? My feelings disturbed me. Although these criminals have committed some of the most heinous crimes, I found myself pitying them. There was a vivid scene in the show when the inmates arrive for the first time in the prison and they are ordered to follow a routine of stripping them of their belongings. I couldn't help but put myself in the shoes of those who were there for the first time and wondered what thoughts were entering their minds. "What has happened to me? How did my life end up this way? I am so scared that I might die here." There were so many filing in, and then the scene fast-forwarded to the next set of new prisoners, following the same routine. How did they get there? -- Not the actual place but their lives--how did they get there? When did their education fail them? This, I believe, is a fact. Their education failed them sometime in their life. Their failures followed them. Their hopelessness followed them. I know they hold responsibility for being there, but no one showed them a better life. I truly believe this. No one was there to let them know that their lives mattered. No teacher was there to help them break out of their personal prison. My frustration and pity led me to think about these prisoners' early childhood. Once in their lives, they were innocent and oblivious to ills of the world. Their lives were limitless of great possibilities, but one moment, one decision drastically changed their path. This was the beginning of their lives spiraling out of control. Their environments failed to protect them. My thoughts again truly disturbed me. I almost wanted to cry because they were not shielded from violence, crime, gangs, drugs, etc. No one was there to keep them safe. Children need a strong barrier of protection from the world that some must live through. A school, a teacher could create this environment. I then began to think about how early childhood education must have a strong foundation. A teacher must cultivate a safe environment and a positive learning atmosphere so that the students can intrinsically motivate themselves to succeed--no matter what comes their way. Teacher training for these age groups needs to be highly specialized. All students need to know that they are cared for and loved--that their lives matter--that they have a future and a hope. This is one area where teachers can continue to develop in their teacher education. At the same time, teachers must be able to train the students to resist the pull of following gangs or violence in general. Teachers, administrators, and schools in general need to build relationships with these troubled children so that they can learn to trust and follow a life of fulfillment not of destruction. Teachers should also learn to give students a clean slate. Even if a failure follows a student, teachers need to give them a fresh start. If teachers do not, failure, hopelessness, and rejection will follow them, and then they will seek acceptance outside their safety zone. We can't continue this spiraling of lives that unfortunately end in imprisonment whether literal or metaphorical. All lives matter. Motivation to succeed starts in their primary years. Teacher training cannot focus merely on passing tests and knowing theorists. Teacher training should include knowing how to build relationships, fostering the learning environment and building a safe place so that barriers are removed and never created. The child's mind should be free from worry and fear. If we can't catch a troubled child early on, then we release the child who will be robbed of their innocence and robbed of their future.
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AuthorProfessor of Education at Lone Star College-CyFair Archives
April 2017
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