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Column/Op-Ed |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Ronald G. Waters |
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March 11, 2010
Education over incarceration
By state Rep. Ronald G. Waters
Recent events in Philadelphia have shown that some youth are not making the right decisions about their future. One hundred teens gathered for a snowball fight that led to a rampage at The Gallery on Market Street. The crowd spilled into Macy’s, where 14 teenagers were arrested for disorderly conduct. One girl was also charged with aggravated assault for allegedly standing over a boy and kicking him in the head.
Meanwhile, two days of violence at South Philadelphia High School last December resulted in 30 students injured, including several who were hospitalized, and 10 others suspended. A retired federal judge commissioned by the school district issued a report on the assaults, with recommendations on how to deal with school violence.
Students who get involved in these types of incidents are, unfortunately, setting themselves up for a life behind bars. We must teach kids to value their freedom and prevent them from entering a culture of crime. While some of our children respond to negative peer pressure, we must create an atmosphere of positive peer pressure.
History was made in February at FitzSimons High, an all-male school in Philadelphia. Working with the youth committee at SCI Graterford, the School District of Philadelphia and Principal Darryl C. Overton of FitzSimons High, I convened a town hall-style meeting. Students and inmates communicated by way of telephone about the daily challenges students face and the consequences of illegal behavior. The purpose of the event was to recruit advocates for positive peer intervention and educate students about what’s at stake -- their freedom, their education and their future. The youth committee from Graterford clearly informed the students about what prison life is really like. The messages "don’t believe the hype about prison life" and "education over Incarceration" resonated throughout the entire event.
All students in attendance wore a T-shirt, which they were given as they entered the auditorium. The T-shirt depicted two outcomes -- education or incarceration. Thanks to the management of radio station WURD 900AM, the region’s only African-American owned and operated radio station, the event was broadcast live. Thera Martin Connerly, program director at WURD, was extremely supportive and on-hand throughout the entire broadcast.
The inmates at Graterford, who were the same age as these students when they first found trouble -- wanted to get these young people’s attention. Now behind bars, they have been down the path these teenagers are now traveling. Most importantly, they understand the real consequences of criminal behavior, and want to prevent more people from following in their footsteps. They hope to challenge the notion some youth have that prison is a glamorous and desirable. This is the image that they see portrayed on television and in the movies. But in reality, people do not want to be there. If people actually wanted to be in prison, why is there a need for the prison bars, the barbed wire, the shackles and the armed guards?
One of the most powerful moments that day was during the question and answer session."Would you do it again?" a student asked one of the inmates on the telephone line. "Absolutely and definitely, no," the inmate replied.
This event was both a powerful and historic experience that the organizers hope will bear positive results not only for the students, but for those who listened during the radio broadcast. In some cases, the inmates who spoke have spent years and some will spend the rest of their lives behind bars. So they really wanted to help this at-risk population make their life successful. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams called into the show and said he really appreciated my message "Go to Yale, not to Jail", which appears on the back of the T-shirt. D.A. Williams offered another version, as well, which is "Go to Penn State and not the State Pen."
We are just hopeful that these young, attentive listeners realize that prison should never be an option.
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