Prison Systems: Education is Not a Cure

My last visit to a Texas State Prison was the same as it had been every year. The wire and glass partition did nothing to deter the exchange of emotions between my friend and her son. It was always the same between the two. Year after year, the visits continued, fueled by the guilt of the mother and waxed smooth by the promises of the son.

Joe's eyes, always tired, would switch their focus from his mother's sweet idle chatter to my plastered smile, a quick nod acknowledging my presence, and back again to focus on his adoring mother. My generic smile appeared once every year immediately upon passing through the prison gates and into the visiting hall. For a total of 20 years, I had accompanied Joe's mother, (I'll call her, Jilly), to several different facilities during the Christmas season. During the year, Jilly visited her son on a monthly basis, checking on his progress in the many activities, or educational pursuits he undertook while incarcerated.. I am forever amazed at the level of hope she retained after living through the disappointments of six parole violations.

Joe had first entered prison in 1975 at the age of 18, following years of repeated juvenile offenses. He had been sentenced to 5 to 10 years for "breaking and entering," which had been a drug related offense, according to the arresting officers. Drugs and alcohol had been Joe's game since the age of 13, but drug rehabilitation in that era was not considered in sentencing the young or old involved in criminal offences. Rehabilitation was thought to be a trip to the work farm to gain a greater appreciation for life on the outside.