Paths Diverged: College Dreams vs. Prison Realities
Source: Zocalo Public Square
For Korean international students, college is the institution that lies on the end destination from childhood to adulthood. Much of our childhood is centered around prestigious education with a safe learning environment. A majority of our thoughts are directed towards the path to college. “What extracurriculars should I work towards?” “How should I raise my grade in AP World?” “I really need to study for that AP exam coming up in May.” However, on the other side of the world, there are adolescents with an entirely different worldview. Not a single one of their priorities is college or even education in general. For these adolescents in the US, the institution that they are headed to during the journey from childhood to adulthood is prison, not college.
These two institutions that lie on this path are on absolute opposite extremes. Whereas we live our lives in a safe, harmless environment, one with proper education and security, others live their lives on the run. Provided with no proper education and security, several communities in the US are plagued with drug dealing, violence, robbery, and police brutality. This sets up the path for many adolescents in the US to head for prison as they grow up, not college.
Source: How we're priming some kids for college — and others for prison, Ted Talk by Alice Goffman
According to the Washington Post, the US has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, imprisoning 716 out of every 100,000 citizens. In comparison to other countries which imprison about 200 out of every 100,000 citizens, this number is astronomically high. Thus, this problem in the US, where certain teenagers are primed for prison instead of college, needs to be addressed.
Insight into this issue is gained through the experiences of Alice Goffman, a former University of Pennsylvania student who grew up in one of the impoverished and troubled African American communities. She recalls the story of Chuck and Tim, two brothers in this neighborhood. Chuck, 18, and Tim, 10, grew up with a mother who was struggling with addiction and money supported by their grandfather’s pension. With not enough money for sufficient clothes, food, and school supplies, the two brothers struggled to grow up properly in the way that we international students do. They grew up in a culture where boys would play games chasing each other—one as the “cop” and the other as the “criminal,” repeating phrases such as “I’m gonna lock you up!” and “Get on the ground!”
Goffman recalls the stories of how Chuck and Tim suffered from the community. When Chuck was 18, he beat a fellow schoolmate in the schoolyard for calling his mom a “crack whore.” Chuck was charged with aggravated assault and was sent to adult county jail for a year. He failed to re-enter high school and got a warrant for his arrest shortly after as he couldn’t pay the court fees, essentially becoming a dropout on the run. Similarly, Tim was placed on three years of probation for being in a car that was allegedly stolen. As a result, Chuck taught Tim how to run from the police, how to spot undercover police cars, and how and where to hide. Both brothers were subjected to a troubled community where adolescents growing up go to prison instead of college. For example, a prime example of a troubled community like this is Mississippi, the state with the highest incarceration rate in the US and one of the states with the highest incarceration rate in the world. It’s a “financially poor state” with a quarter of its population in poverty, according to Jackson State University.
Source: Prison Policy Initiative
In these communities, adolescents are forced to go through an upbringing much akin to that of Chuck and Tom, “primed for prison” and not college—an entirely opposite extreme regarding our education and upbringing in KIS. These communities are the exact polar opposite of ours. Poverty is immensely prevalent and thus, education is insufficient so children growing up are headed towards a future where they become part of gangs, deal drugs, and drop out of school—become assimilated into this dangerous culture that makes them all end up in prison.
Prison ultimately imperils those who are victims of this other path. Some are imprisoned for absurd amounts of time—so much so that their entire childhood or early adulthood goes to waste. In this process, where maturity is of the utmost importance, education is also robbed of them. In the flawed neighborhood they grew up in, education there was ineffective and improper. In the prison they end up in, this pattern still continues. Prison, the institution meant to rehabilitate individuals and release them into society as new citizens of the state, is failing at its purpose. This is most blatantly an insult to injury. Thus, recidivism rates are at an all-time high in the US. A U.S. Department of Justice analysis of recidivism rates in 24 states concluded that 82% of individuals released from state prisons were rearrested at least once during the 10 years following release. Within one year of release, 43 percent of formerly incarcerated people were rearrested. The failure of rehabilitation programs within prison is a serious matter—one that some initiatives have sought to remedy, especially the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI), initiated by Bard College.
“Today, BPI operates in seven correctional facilities and enrolls over 400 incarcerated students in full-time programs that culminate in degrees from Bard College. Once enrolled, BPI students embark on a rigorous course of study that matches the breadth and intensity of the Bard College learning experience. BPI supports students throughout their enrollment — and beyond — to identify ways that a liberal arts degree can carry forward into long-term plans,” BPI states.
BPI has more than 600 students enrolled in their program and has more than 870 degrees conferred. Their effectiveness is not to be overlooked. A study reported that BPI has significantly reduced recidivism rates. Not only that, but their education is of a high caliber as well. In 2015, news spread all over the internet that the prestigious Harvard University Debate Team was defeated by the BPI Debate Union.
Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) Debate Union defeats Harvard University in September 2015. Photo: Skiff Mountain Films
To this day, BPI has significantly improved the current state of prison, making it possible for the institution to truly achieve its intended purpose: to educate the imprisoned and release them back into society as upstanding citizens. BPI has achieved this; students such as Dyguan Tatro, George Chocos, Giovannie Hernandez, Tamika Graham, Shawnta Montgomery, and Sebastian Yoon have all integrated back into society as model citizens after BPI. A documentary about their journeys and the BPI program can be seen through the College Behind Bars series.