The Arts, Education and Prison

Spring break has come to a close and today was a long day of work and class. Mondays start for me in the office. Then I go to a short seminar. Then I head to a residence hall where my work holds our weekly tutoring session with the high school youth. We have students in several classrooms throughout the hall so I do a lot of running around. It's always exhausting by the time the day is over. Yet, very rewarding. Today I was talking one on one with youth about their schedules for next year and the importance of maintaining a rigorous high school curriculum for college admission. High schools don't necessarily require four years of math, science, language arts, etc., but we do. 

There are some students, though, that schools fail. I don't think the students fail- it's the schools. Often, I believe, these are the students who are creatively inclined, but not necessarily academic. There is one young person I currently work with that is like that. They are an incredible writer. I've read their poetry and even heard their spoken word. They have incredible talent and something worth saying. They are also incredibly smart based on my conversations with them. However, they can not seem to pass a single class - no matter the subject. They are not getting in trouble in school, they just are not interested. Their passion is elsewhere. School must have lost them a long time ago.

This student makes me think of so many of the incredible talents I met at Carswell. I am not saying that this young person will go to prison, I am saying that too many people in our prisons are people that our schools failed. They are incredibly talented souls - true artists in every sense of the word - but somehow were lost in the traditions of schooling. 

As an educator, I think it's vitally important that all our children receive a well rounded education. I also believe that we cannot allow any student to fail simply because the curriculum fails to take into account the reality of different learning styles and talents. Creative souls can learn. They may just need to learn in different types of classrooms and with educators who understand people who think outside the box.

If we want to find a way to lower the number of young people in our prison system, we need to keep them in school and learning. In order to do that, we should consider the fact that our educational system simply does not cater to all our students well. Those with money and in wealthy school districts may have options that help them find options to better meet their needs, but not everyone has those resources. 

Obviously, there are a lot more issues than just those I've mentioned here on this topic, so I will get off my soap box, but I just wanted to write about this. There are many things I never imagined I'd see in prison and one of them is the incredible art and talent of so many young, incarcerated individuals.