Send Idaho High School Students to Prison

Dunno…”Scared Straight” programs didn’t work. Maybe was too late for those specific participants, though…..

I think that’s a great idea! It might be just enough of a deterrent for these kids to help them understand just how serious prison life is. With all the crap shown on MTV with rappers like 50cent, Kurupt, Cool g, Above the law, etc. glorifying drive bys, getting shot and spending time in jail. Show these kids up close and personal how the freedoms they take for granted on a daily basis can easily be taken away with a few bad choices.
Great post Joe

I think having the prisoners speak to them and tell them their personal stories would be huge. I’m sure there are many people in prison that have led model lives and have been successful in life, only to fall prey to meth, or lost a job or a family memeber and ended up committing a crime, etc. Having these types of inmates speak to them, I think, would make a big difference.

I think High School is too late.

Send them *and* their parents when the child is 10-11. I think it would take a concerted effort to instill the fear necessary to deter them from crime and it’s needs to be directed to the child and to the parents.

By High School it’s far too easy for them to develop a “not me” attitude as in “I won’t get caught, not me” and it’s too easy for the parent to mark time and say the child is too old to parent effectively. Parent’s need to be made aware that while a teen can be held accountable for their own actions it’s the parents who need to be able to *parent* the child so that the actions taken are wise ones.

I see FAR too many permissive parents these days. Parents are supposed to be parents, not the “friends” of the children. Start them younger with structure, limits and discipline and you might have a chance to make an impression.

Sigh, yeah maybe it’s one of those ideas that could not work. Take too old of kids and you’ve missed them anyways, take too young of kids and they forget or disregard the message over time.

Maybe the county jails could be visited then? I hear they are real nasty holes. Unless the Bonneville county jail has been upgraded, I heard they used to have to go to the toilet in a large room with everyone around.

Never mind.

Yeah, it was one of those “nice ideas in a perfect world”. But at least I tried 8^)

Hey CR67, if you think it is a good idea then propose it to the Bonneville County Commisioners. We could do it right here in Idaho Falls and save on travel costs.

Maybe we could take the juveniles down to the 3-B detention center and show them that juveniles can indeed be locked up and hit them early before they get entrenched.

Have you heard any statistics on the effectiveness of DARE programs? I think all of us would love to support programs that re-direct youth to other pursuits. Several years ago people made fun of public funding of midnight basketball leagues. I think that was a mistake. These type of programs should get funding. We need more diversions for kids in this community and others.

Several years ago the proposed rec center was voted down because Steve Vucovich (spelling of last name not certain) from the Apple Club fought it. I think that was a big loss to the kids. The Rec Center for a city this size is a joke and frankly an embarrassment. Here is my idea: Name it the Melaluca Rec Center and get it built! (Just kidding) But surely there is some funding out there for this type of needed community resource to give our youth more opportunities than even the YMCA can provide?

Good points Mike. If we could get that to happen I’d be more than happy to help chaperone the kids, and share with them an experience I went through at their age. I honestly think it would be a great eye opening experience for middle school kids.

To share an experience I went through when i as 12 years old:
I was walking through Wal-Mart and decided to steal a tape. This was back when cassette music was the “in” thing. LP’s were on their way out and cassettes were hot. I don’t know why I did it, I had plenty of money in my pocket at the time. I grew up in a very strict and religious household and I knew my Mom would beat my butt is she ever caught me doing something like that. Well, me and a buddy of mine were in the store with my younger brother and my friend dared me to steal something. Succumbing to the peer pressure and going against everything I was taught, I took the cassette out of the plastic case and stuffed it at my pants. Sure enough I was confronted as I walked out the front door. It was the most humiliating experience of my life. I had to go upstairs to the office while the store manager called the Police and I had to call my parents and tell them what happened. The officer was going to release me to my parents, but my Mom told them to take me to jail. At the time I was more afraid of what my Mom was going to do with me once I got home, than what the cops were going to do. Well, they handcuffed me walked me downstairs right out the front door right in front of everybody and into the backseat of the police car. I was taken to jail and was put in a holding cell by myself and had to sit there for almost two hours. I can’t even begin to tell you how awful an experience that was, being 12 years old and my Mom telling the officer she wasn’t picking me up and to take me to jail. Being that i was only twelve, they didn’t charge me and unbeknownst to me, the officer knew what my Mom was doing. She was teaching me a lesson and he was all for it. I’m here to tell you it was an eye opening experience I will never forget, and I can honestly say I never stole another thing in my life. I remember the officer that took me in told me when he was releasing me, “if more parents were like YOUR parents, this type of thing wouldn’t happen nearly as much”. And I honestly believe that.
Anyways, my Mom eventually came and picked me up and she asked me if I learned my lesson. I didn’t have to say a word, she knew that I did. She could have easily come and picked me up and taken me home, grounded me for a month but she figured at that age, having me go to jail for a couple of hours would have been the best thing for me. She was right! I was so hurt and upset at her for doing that to me, but once I got older I was glad she did what she did. To tell you the truth, the thing that upset her the most was the fact that she knew I had more than enough money to buy that cassette tape.

So obviously I think its a great idea for kids that age to take a tour of the police station and/or county jail.

I’m also all for a REC Center in IF. Kids need something like this to keep them from being bored an getting into trouble. And as Mike suggested, I will be writing the Mayor and County Commissioners. BTW….who are our county commissioners? I’ll have to look that up.

Thanks for the idea Mike. I hope my experience inspires others to help in this cause. Our kids are worth it!

[edited by site admin for putting down another guest]
That’s the difference between students in this country and students in other countries. Students here dread school and do everything they can to get out of going, from doing homework, and run home as soon as that last bell rings.
Whereas students in other countries relish the thought of school and the knowledge they receive. They thrive on tough and challenging coursework. It all has to do with our youths mindset.
This is why our country is at the bottom of the list when it comes to education. (we won’t even discuss Idaho’s level compared to the rest of the country!) Most other countries are excelling in math, science, multiple languages, etc. as opposed to the US.
It’s a real shame and it’s all because of the mindset like Omegawolf’s in saying his school is “like a prison”.
Sad.