I don’t imagine prison to be anything like we see in the movies. I can’t be sure because I’ve never been but there’s something about Hollywood films that makes me think we’re being misled on certain subjects. I’m yet to see a single snake on a plane, for example.
Prison would be a very lonely place; with minimum outside world contact, a lot of time to think and nothing delicious to drink, I have no doubt that a lot of sorry souls are suffering. Prison’s not meant to be fun, obviously. Correctional officers aren’t keeping people under control with Taser Swift concerts. But there has always been this debate around the topic: punish prisoners or rehabilitate them.
Rehabilitated people are living in prisons all over the world, but they still have tens of years left on their sentences. It’s doing no one any good, not least the taxpayers who pay their “rent”.
It’s a sore and subjective subject that I have only just got acquainted with, but did you know that millions of them are waiting for a stranger to write to them and exchange life experiences? Well, it’s true. Just Google “write to a prisoner” and your prison pal possibilities become endless. Prisoners can benefit enormously from a pen pal experience; it can eliminate the monotony and keep their spirits up, and prisoners who maintain positive relationships with people on the outside are less likely to return to prison in the future.
I’m comparing my life to the lives of other 28 year olds around the world, and then comparing them with each other. Because astrology says that being 28 means that we’re all leaving our youths and moving into “adulthood” right now. That’s a big deal, like getting your first period at the same time as your friends.
I want to find out how a rehabilitated 28 year old in prison is feeling about life at the moment. And if our exchange provides him with a bit of hope and entertainment, then my advocacy for compassion and humanity is trundling on along nicely.
Hear about my letter to a prisoner below if you want:
Ok Jess appreciate your intentions maybe you should visit said prisoners. Not all is as it seems.
I plan to visit said prisoner when I’m in the States next year! All part of the plan…