Two staff members from Taft Prison Camp drove seven other prisoners and me to Bakersfield this morning. Ms. Mickelson, our staff sponsor, coordinated the field trip that would allow us to make three separate presentations to teenagers who were attending a community school for at-risk youth. This trip to Bakersfield was my fifth outing from prison as a participant in the TOAD group, and I appreciate the privilege.
The reason I enjoy participating in these speaking assignments is that I can sense the value members in our audience place on the message. They range in age between 13 and 18, and all of the kids are in some kind of trouble. The other schools expelled them, or they are burdened under some type of supervision by the criminal justice system. These kids need guidance, and they express an interest in the stories we provide about our experiences.
It’s not only the children, the staff members who work in the schools tell us how the children talk about what they learned from our presentations for several days. These kids are not new to prison. When I ask how many of the kids have family members who are in prison, every hand rises. They are kids who were raised in prison visiting rooms, kids who have not been strangers to the rigid rules of confinement. One student said that his father and two of his brothers were in prison, and each of them were serving sentences north of 10 years. One girl told me how her brother had been murdered four days after he was released from prison. These were children who knew tragedy, and they hurt. It was a privilege for an opportunity to provide some guidance, if even for a few hours.
Naturally, none of the TOAD members glorify our experiences when we share our stories. We tell them about the twisted values that led us into criminal activities, and the heavy price that our families pay with us because of our bad choices. I am careful to express the burden of responsibility, to let those in the audience know that I serve a lengthy sentence because I did not make good choices. When they hear that I’ve been in prison for 22 years the children give me their full attention. I’m hopeful that we conveyed a message, and that they will consider the more positive options we offered.
Another advantage of traveling to the local schools for this type of outing was that our staff sponsors, the teachers at the school, and those in the audience did not look down on us as prisoners. In that setting, we do not even feel as if we are prisoners. We are people, making a contribution to a better community. A sense of liberty comes with the trust others place in us for those hours we spend away from a prison. It is a taste of what is to come, and I value the privilege. I look forward to experiencing freedom with my wife, Carole.
Before the road trip, I wrote two blogs in the early morning, and I ran three miles. My tally now stands at 926 miles over the past 104 consecutive days.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
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