Secrets Lie Within

Prison Cruelty


Oddly enough, I have really enjoyed reading the pieces based on the topic of prison.  Although it is never a place I would want to even visit, I find the secrets and stories very fascinating.  Once of my favorite places I visited when I was younger was Alcatraz.  I found the history so interesting, and the stories they told of how inmates tried escaping and the families of wardens who lived on the island as well.  I know today things have changed a bit since Alcatraz has closed its doors, but there does still seem to be a bit of corruption.
I do believe the statement that the general public doesn't know too much about what goes on in prisons is true.  I think a large part of this mystery has to do with the fact that society does not want to know.  As the piece mentioned that the guards think of prisoners, not as people, but as the crime they committed, society does the same.  It is hard to think of them in any other light, they did a bad thing and now they should have to pay the price.
Reading about the social network within a prison was interesting as well.  The story of the "illegal" piece of pie that made it all the way from the Warden's kitchen into the solitary confinement cell was fascinating.  Especially since it was still in good shape some three days later.  The article also made it a little bit more understandable as to why many of the guards resort to physical roughness.  The fact that the prisoners already have had their rights revoked makes it difficult for them to be punished.  Although I do not like to hear of people getting hurt, the line of thought does make more sense to me now.

All Locked Up

Illegalities and Delinquency


I found this passage very interesting and it brought up many different points that I have often wondered about.  I have personally always believed that putting people into prison is not doing anything towards solving the problem at hand.  Although it is a form of punishment, I don't believe the majority will be any better off once they get out.  If we, as tax payers, are paying for these people to be taken care of while they are in confinement they should all be put to work and learn how to function in society.  I do realize that some of these criminals have mental illnesses that are difficult are work with, but for the most part we could be making these people's lives better.  This would make them more useful in society rather than hindrances.

The concept that prisoners were forced to carry around passports that explain their wrong doing when they left prison is a good idea in theory, but it was setting them up for failure.  If I were at a company looking to hire a new employee, seeing this passport would certainly deter me from wanting to have that person on my team.  I think if we ever want these people to have a positive influence on others, we need to set them up with the right tools to keep them out of the prison system.

Teacher Knows Best?

A New Spelling of My Name


Audre Lorde's piece on her struggles as a young girl pulled on my heart strings a little bit.  I understand how frustrating it can be when you are younger and have any kind of set back or disability.  I struggled with a lisp and reading comprehension at a young age and I remember how frustrated I would get when something wouldn't click.  I was especially frustrated by the lisp because with a name like "Sarah,"  you are being corrected constantly.  I however was lucky enough to have a strong support system both at home and in school.  It is hard to imagine why anyone would go into teaching if they did not want to help the students succeed.  Although I realize this passage was written from a very different time, and I'm sure that race had a large part to do with how she was treated.

Teaching as a Subversive Activity


This excerpt by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner is possibly my favorite piece to date in this class. The points they bring up and the ideas they put forward were both thought provoking hilarious!  I enjoyed reading each one of their ideas and by the end was hoping we could actually put them into motion.  I have had many amazing teachers in my life time, but as for the other ones...I think we should propose these changes.  I especially liked the idea of having teachers who "know" their subject be forced to teach something completely new.  This would be a perfect approach for math and science teachers.  I have had far too many teachers that just don't understand why the class isn't understanding a concept or equation.  When someone knows these areas well, I can see why they teach in a certain way, but it does not help us, the students who have no idea what they are talking about.  Another favorite was the idea that teachers must take a test created by the students on what the students know.  This would be something interesting to start now and have each class do for many years to come.  We could then look back at how our young society has changed over the years, and what was important to them at the time.