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Beyond Scared Straight
Sep 10, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a comment
Posted by
Josh
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.
To describe myself in one word... unorthodox... I consider myself out of the ordinary. I have very high self- esteem. I got a good life, and a good family. I got clothes on my back, a heated house, food, and clean water, what more could I ask for? I want to make friends not enemies, but if you screw with me, there will be no mercy. I am a metalhead, and always will be. My biggest dream is raise a family, have a wife, and a nice paying job. I like a good laugh, and I just like hanging out with friends. If you needed to know one thing about me before meeting me I think that it would be that I have no problem with stepping on some toes once in a while. I have a very small fuse. I write poetry, and I have won awards.