Joshutopia

Everything from Poetry to Politics!

Main Content RSS FeedLatest Entry

Beyond Scared Straight

Many people, especially teens, think jail is a big joke. They will go about crimes with almost a care- free attitude, figuring that jail can’t be that bad. I beg to differ, a phobia of mine is being locked in jail. There is nothing that would cause me to go to jail, but it’s still a relevant fear in my mind. For the other side, the teens who like to commit crimes, there are programs in jails all over America, scaring kids straight. Some of these programs get a television run on an A&E show called “Beyond scared Straight.”

The show stems from a 1979 documentary of the similar name of “Scared Straight!” where it follows the same flow of the show. Kids are taken into the prison blocks, with the officers treating them like inmates: screaming at them, using strict formations, etc. This is not just to intimidate them, however, this is also for their safety, as well as the safety of the officers. The kids see the inside of the cell blocks where the inmates act like animals, screaming profanities and obscenities at them, banging on the doors, doing pretty much whatever they want. The big thing about this show is that it actually works. After the original program, the show follows the teens a month later (in the same show) and they do a follow- up. The teens say how their changing and stopping doing what they were. The most interesting thing about this show is that it works, save some failures.

I think that this show is genius! Not only to the programs really scare the sh*t out of the teens, but it also gives the inmates some time from the jail cell (in most programs, they invite inmates from the jail to come and talk to the teens… either share their story or further the process of scaring the sh*t out of them.) Also, airing it on TV lets other teens see what jail is like, and it should scare them too. I know it scares me.

Recent Entries

The Casey Anthony Trial: My Take

It is usually not like me to kick a dead dog, but the trial upon Casey Anthony popped into my mind tonight. I recently watched a special on the life of Casey Anthony, and other than a murder trial, she is your typical teen. I don’t want to talk about her life, just the trial, [...]

How do we know things?

The human mind is very complex, and very interesting to me. Trying to organize the countless neurons and information highways and then trying to make sense out of the chaos may seem like an impossible task, but scientists and philosophers alike are trying to take it on, including myself. Now you may say that an [...]

Life Afloat

Hello again everyone, sorry for my lengthy hiatus. I have been thinking away at some concepts and I think that I have them squared away. The first one is the one I will explore in this post. After this post, I will follow with two more to answer the other concepts that have been floating [...]

Crucify Me

Crucify Me
~~
I look at my crying wall,
Witnessing how far I fall,
The chains of depression holding me down,
Trying to hold my massive crown,
All light in my life has dimmed away,
Broken to my knees in dismay,
The vultures come, smelling the blood,
Down on my knees, I beg for the flood,
Darkness closes in around me,
An evil comes I cannot [...]

The Bitter Walls

The Bitter Walls
~~
I live down on my knees,
In the dirt and grime,
Stuck in the quicksand,
Watching time slip away,
I reach out but never call,
Darkness surrounds my known world,
Third eye blind,
Head in the sand,
Trying to escape the bitter walls I’ve built,
This life is my own doing,
This Hell, with my own hands I’ve made,
I cannot find a way [...]

A Spiritual Journey

I have experienced recently a lot of spiritual discoveries lately, and none of them are simple. I have been a Christian for only three years now, and I still consider myself a newbie. But a new tugging on my soul has recently set in. The tugging to find my own spiritual truth. Personal relationships cannot [...]

The Viking Raid

The Viking Raid
~~

I clinch my sword in my hand,
The storm is pounding down,
We shove off from the old homeland,
Invading the Irish town,

The storm gives us a frightening guise,
Our wait is at an end,
Under dark, stormy skies,
Our onslaught they will not fend,

Finally we make for land,
Our hearts, hard as steel,
Blood will stain this golden sand,
We will [...]

The New WWE

WWE is trying to develop its business more and more, but are they stepping in the right direction? WWE is the absolute giant of the sports- entertainment business and the name is renown world wide. With hundreds of millions of fans, it is one of the biggest entertainment industries in the world. WWE has been a [...]

Journal Blog: 3/28/2011

Old friend, it’s been a while since I’ve last posted. There are a lot of things on my chest tonight, and I’m needing an ear right now (in this case, metaphorically speaking.) A lot of stuff has been happening, and none of it’s good. Overall, I feel like I’m stuck in my current situation with [...]


Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes