I've ready 4-5 other prisoner's blogs and yours is the best so far. A blog is a place to share your point of view - not just a story but a point that you want to drive home. Blogs are often used to share information about something you just learned, especially in the scientific community.
I mentor kids who are always on the line between good and bad. One day they ace their tests and the next day they're suspended because they stabbed another kid with a pen. I read the point of your blog to be that you don't have to necessarily do something bad to be blamed for it. Just enabling the situation to happen can make you the culprit. On one hand it seems really unfair to you, but on the other hand it's an important lesson for everybody to learn.
Thank you for your blog post. I hope you'll do others.
I'm fascinated to know - what did you do that got you 16 years in prison?
6 seasons of Oz is all I have to go on for what it must be like. I can't imagine why anybody would go to war, but perhaps that's because I live in what is relatively paradise.
Thank you for your story, Opollo. You are a true example of a self-made man who deserves to be free. The WORLD deserves to have you free. Your tenacity is inspiring and I believe that it will pay off.
Nathan, are there any efforts to take care of inmates once the mental deterioration sets in? Is this something they complain about to their superiors or something their peers see? I wonder how much is known about the deterioration from the correctional authority's point of view and from the inmates.
There was a piece done about Bridgewater State Hospital in ... I believe it was the 20's or so called "Tinicut Follies" (or something of that nature, its been a while since I opined about it) which talked about how bad the hospital was at helping its institutionalized patients and how good it was at keeping them just as low as they were when they entered. Of course, as you know, Bridgewater State is now a mixed facility for Drugs/Alcohol and Sanity issues along with prison-related issues and yet still I read your story and think back to the sanitariums of old and how they just warehoused their clients without actually doing anything to 'fix' or 'help' them.
If the prison system is to work, it has to work for the individual. If someone has a drugs/alcohol problem, it needs to be conquered in a way that the inmate understands or he will forever be a recidivist. What good is it to lock people up with the intent of letting them go at some point and not prepare them for the world outside?
Scott's story is a major story that happens all too often with our institutionalized system. IT happens with hospitals, prisons, schools... Anywhere the government has their hand in. I'm not a libertarian of any sort, but the government hand is too large to help the few and too small to save the masses.
It's a pleasure to read you. I guess if a "blog" sounds like something nasty, "blogging" must be worse! But for me at least there isn't a way you're "supposed" to do it or not... when you're "blogging" you get to write in the way you want to, and about the things that interest you.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your writing. It'd be great to see some of your drawings, too!
i like your writing; it looks like mine; i like your happy faces too =). i know i'm young and more likely than not i know nothing about anything, but i think you're a genuinely nice person and i'm very jealous of you because you know how to play musical instruments. i would like to learn how to play the piano, but i don't have the time =( i'm always so busy with studying and i'm in college so i cant afford lesson, but it's alright i'm sure something will come around and it will be much better than anything i could have imagined =D
keep your hopes up Mikey, your optimism is really great.
RSS
Best regards from India
I've ready 4-5 other prisoner's blogs and yours is the best so far. A blog is a place to share your point of view - not just a story but a point that you want to drive home. Blogs are often used to share information about something you just learned, especially in the scientific community.
I mentor kids who are always on the line between good and bad. One day they ace their tests and the next day they're suspended because they stabbed another kid with a pen. I read the point of your blog to be that you don't have to necessarily do something bad to be blamed for it. Just enabling the situation to happen can make you the culprit. On one hand it seems really unfair to you, but on the other hand it's an important lesson for everybody to learn.
Thank you for your blog post. I hope you'll do others.
Ryan
6 seasons of Oz is all I have to go on for what it must be like. I can't imagine why anybody would go to war, but perhaps that's because I live in what is relatively paradise.
Ryan
Thank you for trying to spread understanding. Your really-well-put-together letter helps make the world better.
- Kartik,
San Francisco
Stay strong.
If the prison system is to work, it has to work for the individual. If someone has a drugs/alcohol problem, it needs to be conquered in a way that the inmate understands or he will forever be a recidivist. What good is it to lock people up with the intent of letting them go at some point and not prepare them for the world outside?
Scott's story is a major story that happens all too often with our institutionalized system. IT happens with hospitals, prisons, schools... Anywhere the government has their hand in. I'm not a libertarian of any sort, but the government hand is too large to help the few and too small to save the masses.
It's a pleasure to read you. I guess if a "blog" sounds like something nasty, "blogging" must be worse! But for me at least there isn't a way you're "supposed" to do it or not... when you're "blogging" you get to write in the way you want to, and about the things that interest you.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your writing. It'd be great to see some of your drawings, too!
Best,
Peter
keep your hopes up Mikey, your optimism is really great.
sincerely,
Julian