When jail is the best place to live

[achali]

SOURCE
http://tashastruth.blogspot.com/2010/07/...-live.html

When jail is the best place to live.
tashastruth.blogspot.com

I was going through my students' writing yesterday because I'm making a professional portfolio. I was re-reading things and choosing what to include in the portfolio and I found this piece that one of my most pleasant, funniest (and now one of my most missed) students wrote. He was my student in the jail and so obviously he was incarcerated. He was one of the several students I had who were held for long periods after their sentences had been completed because they facility could not locate a suitable family member to deliver him to once he was released. The courts had ruled his family an unacceptable choice, but they were doing parenting classes and taking other steps the judge imposed so that eventually he could come home. He was held in jail for an extra year while this process took place. On some days he was inconsolable. But on others he was the light of the place. I loved him. He had such a beautiful spirit.

I posted this before, but I think it needs re-posting. We all need to start calling our representatives and legislators and asking them about this issue. How many little boys are being held in jails in your area because their families have failed them? I bet you'd be surprised at the number. There are not enough foster and group homes and the courts can't legally give them back to homes that have been ruled abusive. So where do they go? I know the answer.

The writing of my students in the jail were by far the most emotional for me to re-read and there were several I wanted to post (maybe again) but here is this one for a start. While you read ask yourself what kind of life makes a child write something like this? How many people have failed him?

Right now I live in [name of jail], and this is the best place ever. They give three meals a day, PLUS a snack. You get recreation once or twice a day. You get to go to school and watch the girls pass our class. We have 24 hour security, and they do strip searches and security searches, so you don't have to worry about getting stabbed or killed. So just come to [name of jail]. You'll love it.

It's located at [address].

How to get registered: Just catch a charge. It's easy.