Your comment post should be at least 350 words this week due Thursday by 11:59 pm (worth 70 points) and you will be responsible for responding (respectfully) to one of your classmates in at least a one paragraph reply entries by Sunday at 11:59 pm (worth 30 points).
Should prisoners be given the opportunity to get an education?
States are finally backing away from the draconian sentencing policies that swept the country at the end of the last century, driving up prison costs and sending too many people to jail for too long, often for nonviolent offenses. Many are now trying to turn around the prison juggernaut by steering drug addicts into treatment instead of jail and retooling parole systems that once sent people back to prison for technical violations.
But the most effective way to keep people out of prison once they leave is to give them jobs skills that make them marketable employees. That, in turn, means restarting prison education programs that were shuttered beginning in the 1990s, when federal and state legislators cut funding to show how tough they were on crime.
President Obama pointed the country in the right direction last year by creating a pilot program that will allow a limited number of inmates to receive federal Pell Grants to take college courses behind bars. The program will include colleges that either run prison education programs or want to start them. So far, more than 200 schools in 47 states have expressed interest.
Alex Schwartz, one of our Student Council members, agrees with the Times editorial:
The editorial board makes a very compelling case for investing in a solid higher education system for prisoners. It made me think about the roles of inmates in society once they are released from prison, and how we should really be considering that when looking at criminal justice reform. It’s not just about improving inmates’ experiences in prison; it’s making sure that they’re on their feet once they’re released.
But, not everyone supports this line of thinking. In 2014, when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo made a proposal that would have set aside $1 million in a state corrections budget of $2.8 billion to finance college education programs behind bars in New York, a vocal opposition scuttled the idea. Here is what The Times reported then:
In Albany, lawmakers started petitions to collect signatures from constituents who oppose the idea, including one with the title “Hell No to Attica University.” The State Senate, which is controlled by Republicans and a group of independent Democrats, included in its draft of the budget a provision that forbade the use of state money to pay for college degree programs in prisons unless inmates pay the full tuition.
The idea provoked outrage in Washington: Three Republican congressmen from upstate New York introduced what they called the Kids Before Cons Act, which would prevent federal money from being used to pay for college classes for federal or state prison inmates.
The proposal also gave fodder to Rob Astorino, the Westchester County executive, who is campaigning to unseat Mr. Cuomo in November. During a recent visit to Buffalo, Mr. Astorino, a Republican, spoke about how he and his wife were saving to pay for their children to go to college. “Maybe our 10-year-old son, we should sit him down and explain how to rob a bank,” Mr. Astorino said.
Students: Read both articles, then answer the questions below:
— What do you think? Should prisoners be given the opportunity to get an education?
— Does providing prisoners with the chance to take college courses in prison help them get a leg up when they are released? Does it help prevent inmates from landing back in jail later on?
— Do you trust the research, cited in the editorial, that shows money spent on prison education actually saves the government money in the long run because prisoners are less likely to get wrapped up in the criminal justice system again?
— Or do you think any money spent on prison education programs takes away from money that could be spent on education for law-abiding citizens?
— Do you agree with Mr. Astorino, the Westchester County executive, who argued that investing money in prison education sends the wrong message to hard-working families? Why?
Between the two sides of “give people in prison education’ and “don’t give people in jails education”, many people are not sure on what they think should happen. Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Well, I see an obvious side I would take. Don’t give them education. If they are in prison for that long, they don’t deserve education. Why would we waste our money, OUR tax dollars to give to PRISONERS?!? Honestly, if you want to, there should be a charity. It’s like the government deciding that we should all give to cancer foundations (which we should) but we have no choice. We MUST. Usually, if you can afford a couple bucks to help out people in need, you do it on your own will. Not the government takes it no matter what from you and then you deal with it! We are in a capitalist country, meaning we decide what to do with OUR money. We pay taxes for a reason. So needed things in the United States go on (constuction, paying government officials, etc). Is rewarding a prisoner with education a needed thing to go on? No! So it should be OUR decision! To take our hard earned money and put it to something over half the people don’t want is stupid. again, we are capitalist, not communist. Communism is where the government takes your money and spreads it how they feel, not capitalism. If people want to get prisoners education, they should be allowed to help. But it should be their decision. Don’t give the guy that decided to go out driving drunk and ended up crashing into a house education for free! Don’t give the man who drawed a gun in public pointing at people education for free! In this country, the idea is to NOT give free handouts for exactly nothing. That’s socialism, and in worse cases, communism. Democrats are nearly becoming socialists. No. Anyway, overall, no, don’t give jailed people free education, because in my opinion, they don’t deserve it, it wastes our money, and isn’t worth it overall.
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DeleteI think that prisoners should have the opportunity to have or continue an education if the crime they commited doesn’t result in a life sentence. If they have a life sentence than it would be pointless to allow them to get an education. But I think they should pay for it just like every other American citizen. Letting them get an education could teach them that they have better chances to succeed if they get a job instead of trying to rob stores. It’s an interesting idea, and it may prove to save the government money after the prisoners are let out and if the system works, they would turn and live a lawful life. I don’t think that the money spent on prison education will inhibit the public schools funds and the reason I say that is because, overall they wouldn’t be spending nearly as much money on that compared to public schools. And It will profit the government so then once the prisoners get out they get a job, and then they are paying taxes instead of going back to jail. You can’t say that it isn’t fair that they are getting a free education, they are funded just like public schools are, and they turn criminals into intelligent people, more intelligent than they went into prison. It’s either they learn from their mistakes (crimes), or they don’t and repeat what they did once they are freed. So maybe there will be less criminals in the U.S. if the system is put into use. The reason most are in prison is because they wanted to get money and had no other way to do it except rob a business. Now, while in jail they can learn a trade or a skill for them to put into practice. Hard working families shouldn’t be offended by this prison education, because if they really thought about it, it would benefit them so they could know that there will be less criminals to watch out for. So, would you support the prison education if you knew that the criminals, that would be let out after a while anyway, had a chance to change and do better? I know I would.
ReplyDeleteI do think that prisoners should get the opportunity to get an education. Not everyone in prison is a bad person or committed a serious crime. The ones who committed serious crimes will likely be in prison for life or a long time, so they won’t get the chance to use the education anyway. However, the not so bad prisoners can use the education to turn their life around and start on a clean sheet. I don’t think that everyone who comes out of prison should be a bum and and not have a job or a job that pays very little. If prisoners take college courses while in prison I do think it definitely gives them a leg up when they get out. It puts them ahead of the game instead of started classes when you get released. I do think it helps inmates from landing back in jail because now they have a better opportunity to get a better job and do better things. If the released inmates aren’t able to get a job because they don’t have a good education and they went to jail, they might commit another crime because they don’t care. I do trust the research that shows that money spent on the prison education saves the government money in the long run. This is the case because now the prisoners will pay taxes, which go to the government. Also, if they don’t get wrapped up back in the criminal justice system, then the government won’t have to pay for their prison education or their jail costs again. I do think that prison education can take away from money spent on education of law abiding citizens. I would rather money be spent on law abiding citizens, but I do think prisoners should get an opportunity to get an education too. The prisoner who gets an education might take it and do something good with it and the law abiding citizen might get an education and then later commit a crime. The prisoners might not always stay bad people and do bad things, you have to give them a chance a see what they will do with it.
ReplyDeleteJakob I agree with you. If you give prisoners an opportunity they can change there lives to good. Giving prisoners education saves the government money in the long run is true also.
DeleteI agree with you, Jakob. Someone who has a life long sentence shouldnt not be given college courses. Ones who dont should. Everyone deserves a second chance. They deserve the chance to drive out all evil from their ives no matter how much bad theyve done.
DeleteJacob, I agree with you. People should have the opportunity to get education, only when they deserve the second chance. People who are just bad human beings should not. I think this is a good stance on the subject. Pretty fair.
DeleteAfter reading both articles whether prisoners should get an education or not, I think that prisoners shouldn’t get an education. Providing prisoners with the chance to take college courses in prison would help them get a leg up, but there’s a chance that if this education is optional, prisoners wouldn’t leap toward the opportunity to better help themselves in the long run. It might not help inmates from landing back in jail later on because of things that change people’s perspectives. Getting an education won’t help you from making poor choices like drunk driving, it will educate you on the situation and the effects, but most of the time, a careless mistake is what leads to that crash that lands a person in jail. Funding for educators in prison would cost money that middle and lower class citizens just don’t have for something that doesn’t affect them. These citizens won’t think about a prison that’s taking money just to provide an education for inmates, they’re worried about putting food on their tables and keeping the electricity running. Paying for a prisoner's education would be one more thing to worry about, and it wouldn’t help anybody that has to pay for it. In addition, it wouldn’t make us feel any safer, reckless people will always do reckless things, and they won’t even consider that what they do could land them in jail. It will take many things to make these people change. This will only work if prisoners pay extra for their education, not the general public. This puts us in a bad spot in whether we want to help others, or save ourselves from unwanted and unnecessary taxes, that won’t benefit us, but it will for the inmates. Not providing an education for the inmates will teach them how to be cautious. When they do get out, they won’t be prepared for the real world and they will learn that making bad choices will lead them to live a bummed out life. Also, they will learn that they have to work hard like the rest of us and they will try to become less reckless.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Noor. Even if people are educated they still make bad choices which lead to bad consequences. Prisoners need to learn about leading a better life another way.
DeleteI agree with everything you said Noor. People in prison should not get an education. Even if people get an education they still wont be prepared for the right choices, because they will always be a prisoner. If we don't offer prisoners an education they will think twice about committing a crime.
DeleteI was asked the question if prisoners should be able to get an education. There are two sides to this story to let prisoners have an education or to not let them have an education at all. My opinion on this matter is that we should let prisoners get an education in a certain situation. If the prisoner is sentenced to life in prison they should not receive an education ever because they will never be able to use it. And if you get sentenced for life you had to have done a really bad crime that they shouldn't be rewarded with a good education. A way a prisoner should receive an education is if the prisoner has a small amount of time in jail. Also so the people don't have to pay for the prisoners to get an education they should have to pay for it if they want an education. Also if the people want prisoners who do not have a lot of money to get an education they should make a charity or vote for the government to pay for the education of prisoners. That is the only way they should receive education. But this can help the government and law enforcement in the long run because maybe with an education a prisoner will realize that instead of stealing he can learn something and make a real living. So this will help the police and government out by letting them take a break from arresting criminals and putting them on trial. But after reading an article online my opinion changed, They have a statistic that after 3 years half of educated prisoners will end back in jail. So this shows me that a lot of prisoners that receive an education still make bad choices. Basically the main purpose of getting an education in prison is to have a better life out of prison but that doesn't happen too many prisoners. In conclusion prisoners should have the right to an education in certain incidences. Even if they are in jail some deserve a better future so they can turn their life around.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Zach. People who are sentenced to a long time in prison do not really deserve an education. But some other prisoners that will be out sooner deserve some sorta of education to try to get their lives on the right path.
DeleteI agree zach, if the person is in for life, then it makes no sense for them to get an education. It's up to them what they do after they get out, but at least having an education points them in the right direction
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I think prisoners should be given the opportunity to get an education because if they do get an education, when they’re out of prison there skills that they were thought can be used towards a career that they want to have. They can be thought skills for different jobs so after they get out of prison they will have the skills to go towards that career or job that they want. Providing them with the chance of taking college courses in prison will give them a leg up when they are released. If they get the classes that they already need for the job or career that they want, then when they are released they can get right into classes to help them to understand their job more. With an education already they don’t have to worry about going to different jobs and being confused on what is going on. It will also insure them that the prisoners have something to go forward in. I don’t really trust the research in the article. Even if they do set aside money to put towards the prisoners education it doesn’t mean that they are going to stay out of trouble with the federal law. They can still make bad choices in their future but they're basically throwing away the government's money from their bad choices and then won’t be able to put that education towards a job or career later on. I do not agree with Mr. Astorino’s statement but I feel that he is not completely wrong. Investing money to prisoners education isn’t really throwing a bad message out there, it’s showing that once they get out of prison they can go to getting a good job or career. It may seem bad to the families that work hard to earn their money because they feel that they are losing money off their pay so that other people are going to use it to get an education. They may have kids that are going to pay for college but they are not getting the highest amount of I feel that they shou money that they earn to pay off their scholarship. It won’t be fair towards hard working people who pay for education to be losing money that is going to prisoners education for free for them.
I agree with you, Sam. everyone should have a chance to get the career they want even though they've made a couple mistakes in life to keep them from doing so.
Deletesam, I agree with you. even though someone makes bad choices doesn't mean that they can't turn their life around. I feel like that's what prison education would help do. Just give them that push and they might learn how to stay out of trouble.
DeleteYes, i think prisoners should get an opportunity to get an education. I think that allowing prisoners to get a chance to college courses does give them a leg up when they are released. I think allowing them to take the courses will help them realize what they have been doing was wrong and realize what the world is really like. These courses could help them fix their lives by letting them see how the world is civilized and organized to let them restart their life. They could get a job, earn money, by a house and furniture and maybe even find someone they care about if they take the courses to help set their life on track. Yes, i do trust the research that shows money spent on prison education save the government money and are less likely to get wrapped up in the criminal justice system because if we can teach them well enough of what the outside world should be, we could maybe change their viewpoint of others and what they should do in the world. We could get them to respect others and see what they have done was inappropriate and see how they would feel if they were that person. We could change what the prisoner thinks in their mind and be able to have him/her become civilized and cooperate in the real world. No, i dont agree with Mr. Astorino because most people who end up in prison has gone through some tough times and dangerous situations. Usually they have emotional or mental problems that drive them to do something bad. HIs child doesn’t really have any problems. The prisoners all have a reason on why they did what they did that made them end up in prison. We give the money and let them have free college courses because they can't earn money while in jail and can’t change until we help them and give them the education they need. We could help change these prisoners so they can’t help our country and decrease the number of people in prison to allow there to be a better society.
ReplyDeleteHunter I definitely agree with what you said. You inspired me to write what I wrote because you put this together very well.
DeleteI totally agree with you hunter. Giving prisoners the chance to take college courses in jail will help them once they get out of prison to help get them a good job later in life.
DeleteIn the argument of prisoner education there are two sides. Some people say prisoners should be able to receive an education so they can learn and better themselves for when they leave prison. Others say that prisoners shouldn’t get an education because it is using the law-abiding citizens’ tax dollars to fund it with a low chance of working anyway. Both sides have very valid points but I don’t think prisoners should receive a state provided education. There are a few reasons for this. The biggest one being that it would use a lot of valuable resources that are straight from the public. People would be paying tax dollars to pay for the people who couldn’t follow the laws. I don’t think that is right. If there were no expense for the education of the prisoners I would say go for it because I’m sure it will help a few people turn their lives around but since it isn’t like that; the cost isn’t worth the possible reward. To me this is the free citizens cleaning up after prisoners’ poor choices. Another reason I oppose prisoner education is because of the low chances it will even work. I think it would have a very low success rate for a few reasons. For prisoners to at least receive a decent education and retain a lot of what they would learn they need a good environment. A prison definitely isn’t one of those environments. Another reason this probably wouldn’t work is because a lot of the prisoners wouldn’t want to better themselves. In some of their mindsets they aren’t looking for a better life; if they were that dedicated to whatever crime they were committing that they would risk going to jail for it I doubt they would bother going through the trouble of getting an education and trying to get a job to fix their life. For some prisoners if they are in a gang, making a lot of money with drugs, or some other illegal activity and they were brought up in that way of life I doubt they would abandon it and try something new and unknown to them. I definitely don’t think prisoners should receive free education just because of the resources lost for a low reward.
ReplyDeleteShane, I agree with you. Anything overly done is bad. Care too much about yourself, it's bad. Care too little, and that's also bad. There is always that sweet spot with those things. Also, surrounding yourself with modest people is good. It also means it will make you more modest. I believe in that. Good opinion on this.
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading both articles about prisoners getting an education I think that prisoners should have a chance to get an education. I think they can get an optional education based on what got them in jail because who wants someone who can use education the wrong way. If the prisoners are under circumstances and it’s optional to those who haven’t committed a serious crime can be getting an education. If they’ve gotten thrown in jail more than once, then maybe an education shouldn’t be available. Although Providing these prisoners with chances to take college courses in prison definitely gives them a head start when they are released. They don’t need to spend more time on going to college and they already are educated on what job they chose. I think them getting this head start can change their mind sets and get them to steer away from the trouble of jail. This is because they have what’s there for them right in their face and they know if they don’t take it and make bad choices then their education was a waste. I do trust the research that shows money spent on does save the government money and are less likely to get wrapped up in the criminal justice system because if we can educate them enough of what they should be doing outside of jail, we could be changing their viewpoint. We can get them to show respect to authority and common people. We can show them and make them go into our skin to get them to see that what they have done was wrong. I don’t agree with Mr. Astorino because most people who end up in prison have suffered and probably took a beating in their depending on what they did. They can get even crazier from being trapped in a cell and a few other rooms and that can get them to do worse stuff, and educated them can be a coping method. If we can sculpt them into becoming a person with education and a few dollars they can do good for the country. You have to be willing to give these people second chances.
I agree with you Dallas. If prisoners get thrown in jail more than once they shouldn't get a college education. If it is their first time in jail they should get a college education. However, if they committed a serious crime there is no use to give them a college education. I think you have a great response.
DeleteI think that prisoners deserve an education, they deserve an education because when they are in prison they end up losing lots of their knowledge. If a younger adult is arrested they way not have full understanding of the world. Also people that are older adult who has been in prison for a long time forgets what the world outside their prison cell doors is like. As people stay in prison they start to grow bad habits. A movie that I recently saw called “The Shawshank Redemption” there was a prisoner named Brooks. He entered prison when he was in his 20s when he left he was in his older 80s. He missed the invention of cars, he tried to find work, but he was so uneducated that he couldn’t even put groceries in a bag. He was lost and afraid, he even wanted to commit a crime so he could go back to prison to be back in his “home”. In the end Brooks ends up hanging himself because he is so lost in the world. This would not happen if prisoners were educated, Brooks would have known about how the world was, he would have been able to get on his feet in the world. This is why prisoners deserve an education, either they don't have a good education, or they need to know how to survive when they get out.
ReplyDeleteI think that some prisoners should get the chance to get an education. I think that if they did have an education, it could benefit them when they get out of jail. If they are staying in jail for a long time or for life, then they shouldn't get an education because they won't need it if they get out, so there is no point. Also, if they are in jail for a long time they most likely did something super bad and they don't deserve an education. But if they have an education then they can get a job when they got out and fix their life. This will also benefit citizens because now there will be less criminals. If they are focused on their jobs then they probably won't end up back in jail. I believe that in the end the government could end up saving money if all the prisoners can fix themselves. Some of them will just use the education as a thing to do during their time they have to serve, so when they get out they may just do the same thing over again. There are also some more down sides of giving them an education though. Money that is spent on the prisoners education can be used for law-abiding citizens. That could be more helpful considering that they aren't in prison. I am pretty sure some prisons have libraries. If they have them, they can just read and maybe they can learn something from that. It would definitely cost less money and it may keep hard working families under control. That's not the only thing that is bad. Mr. Astorino said, “Maybe our 10-year-old-son, we should sit down and explain how to rob a bank.” That may be encouraging poorer people to commit a crime, so that they can have an education. This may make hard working families a bit angry. If they have to work hard to send their sons and daughters to college paying thousands of dollars, they will be mad about people who committed crimes and don't have to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteBrianna, I agree with you; there are some benefits and not-so-good qualities of having prisoners educated. There would be less criminals, but the money could be spent on law-abiding people. You made a good point about how the libraries could be beneficial.
DeleteI believe that prisoners should get an education. Most prisoners end up in jail because of their pasts. If more people were educated on what to do right and what is wrong then most likely they would not be as bad as they are now.Education is what makes us who we are. Society is broken up into educated and uneducated. Education is very important in shaping our lives and in our adulthood.
ReplyDeleteProviding college courses would help prisoners to get off on the right hand when they leave jail. When they leave jail they could understand laws better by what they study. If they have a chance at having a correct education and a job hopefully they will live their lives better. Hopefully giving them a chance at a normal life would turn their world around completely.
I think the statistics of criminals going back into the criminal justice system are less likely with college classes. It would save money in the long run because it costs way too much money for lawyers and for bail when you can just live out your sentence earn credits on your college degree and go make something of yourself. Studies have proven that citizens with a college degree are most likely to succeed than with ones without. High School dropouts are more likely to end up in prison than regular on the street citizens.
Law-abiding citizens have the chance to make their own money and have a chance at a normal life. Even though prisoners did the crime themselves, some of them may be not guilty. It is unfair to watch someone waste a life. Every life has potential it's up to yourself to try and make a better life out of yourself. Giving the money to receive college courses are there to purposely help and give meaning for life to prisoners.
I don't agree that money spent on college courses is unfair for people who work hard to get into school. Helping these criminals get back on the right foot also helps out society around them. If they were let out of prison without being properly educated they could potentially harm other families. Also, all people should have a place in the world. There are very smart people who are capable of things that we wouldn’t see because they’re stuck in prison with no way to express themselves.Who knows, someone in prison might find the cure to cancer one day.
Ashley, I totally agree with you. Prisoners should get an education so they can be better citizens.
DeleteI think that prisoners should be able to get an education but there should be some restrictions to that. For example like if you committed a crime that you have to serve 20 years or more for you should not be able to have a free education for yourself. You probably deserve to stay in jail then but like if you are a younger adult in prison you deserve a chance to learn. As long as your crime that you committed was not as bad as like murdering someone you should have a chance. Only if you really want to learn something too you can’t just put random people in there that do not want to learn it is a waste of money. They should only teach people that want to get out and be something not just get out to be free. But on the other hand when they get out of jail not too many people will want to hire an ex convict. There probably isn’t too many scientific geniuses in jail anyway. I do not really know that if all that education will really help them get a good job. So I do not know if they will stay out of prison once they get out because they won’t be able to get jobs very easily. I do not really trust the research saying that it will cost the government less money in the long run if they put money down now. You never really do know what will happen if it will keep prisoners out for good. They are taking a lot of money away that could be used for law abiding citizens. It could be used to help those people that do not grow up in the right situation and end up in jail at a young age before they do something bad. You won’t have to spend money in the prisons and you will still be keeping people out of jail. So I think prisoners do deserve an education but the money that they are using could probably be used in better ways than that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about restrictions to who gets to learn. I think it is true that young adults deserve a free education, while people going in for life would need to pay.
DeleteAfter reading the article “Should prisoners be given the opportunity to get an education?”, I do not believe that prisoners should be given the opportunity to get an education. People who are put in prison are not thinking about their education when they were committing murder, robbing a bank, stealing or doing any crime. Why should the government give them money to go to get an education when they wasted their education by committing murder, robbing a bank, stealing or doing any crime? People put in prison deserve to be in prison, if we give them the chance to get an education, what happens to the kids who worked hard to get an education and have to pay thousands of dollars to have a college education. I agree with what Albany, Washington, and Rob Astorino said. Prisoners should not be given the opportunity to get an education. By providing prisoners with the chance to take college courses in prison would have to matter on the prisoner if it would help them get a leg up when they are released. I do not believe in giving prisoners education, but if a prisoner could afford to get an education in prison and be serious about getting an education, I am all for it! It would help them get a job and keep their life in order and stable. Though, if they cannot afford to get an education in prison, and do not care about their education, I oppose giving the chance to get an education in prison. There is no reason to spend money on a prisoner to get an education, when they are not going to get anything out of it. That money should go to a person who needs it and wants an education. I believe it matters the prisoner getting the education, that shows money spent on prison education actually saves the government money in the long run because prisoners are less likely to get wrapped up in the criminal justice system again. If a prisoner get an education, a job, and a better life out of getting an education I believe it is the best thing. But, if a prisoner wastes the education and goes back to jail, it’s a waste of money.I do agree that any money spent on prison education programs takes away from money that could be spent on education for law-abiding citizens. I do agree with Mr. Astorino, the Westchester County executive, who argued that investing money in prison education sends the wrong message to hard-working families. People who go to jail don't deserve the money, people who work hard and need the money to go to college should be using the money not a prisoner.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Alyssa. I honestly feel the same exact way on the topic. Prisoners do not deserve to get an education. I love how you included both sides of the argument in your statement. It honestly gave a better understanding on how you feel about the situation.
DeleteI completely agree with you Alyssa. People in prison shouldn't get an education. The people in jail don't deserve our money. We deserve every honest cent of money we make.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout the article, it explains how some prisoners are given a chance to get an education. I personally think this is a fantastic idea because they are given a chance to get an education and turn their life around after they get out of jail. This gives them a chance to rethink what they have done and make them really think about their actions and what they could've done to prevent them from being where they currently are now. Providing prisoners with the opportunity to take a college course does give them a leg up when they’re released because it allows them to get the better jobs that are available and allows them to buckle down and really start to think about what they want to do in life and how they want their life to go. It gives them a fresh new start when they get release and it leaves them on a positive note. It does help inmates from getting back into jail later on because you're giving them a chance. They’re letting them do these college courses so they can change their life and make it the way they want it to be. We never know what one of them might have gone through as a child or at home with their parents. They might have dreamed big when they were little but weren't able to achieve what they wanted to do because of how their past might have been.However, I don’t trust the research about the government saving money because when the government comes in contact with those who get wrapped up in the criminal justice system, they tend to fine them when they first commit the crimes. Although, in the long run once they’re released they must pay their taxes, bills, etc. Also, as said in the article, governor Cuomo set aside 1 million dollars from their 2.8 billion dollar budget just so they could finance college educations in prison. I think the money spent on prison education takes away money from law-abiding citizens because the government pays for pretty much everything. The government pays for my education and the government pays for a prisoner's education. Thus meaning it takes away a little bit from mine while it’s being given to others. I agree with what Mr. Astorino and what he says about the money invested into a prisoner's education sends the wrong message to hard working families because we pay the government money and we have to pay for certain types of education and pay to go to college where they don't have to. We have to pay a little bit of a pretty penny for a college education and they don't have to. This seems a little bit unfair to the hard working families who sometimes cannot afford these types of things. In conclusion, I do think Prisoners should be given a chance to get an education.
I agree with you completely, everybody deserves a second chance in life, and an education is the perfect way to do that.
DeleteIn my personal opinion, I truly don’t think prisoners should be given the right to get an education. I mean most prisoners have done something pretty terrible to get themselves locked up. However, I know some people have got locked up for drugs or something like that. I mean that’s still bad but not as bad as someone murdering a little kid. By us providing prisoners with the chance to take college courses we are helping them get a leg up when they are released. I mean some people actually want to change and clean their act up and move on with their life. Sadly, there are other people who just get right out of jail and go back to doing exactly what they got locked up for. To be honest, I think college will just help them get smarter and better at what they were doing. If you killed someone I’m sure by you being in prison for most of your life isn’t going to change your opinion on killing. It’s just going to make you be more careful next time you do it. I don’t trust the research cited in the editorial, that shows money spent on education actually saves the government money in the long run. I mean even if it does save the government money, do we really want to spend it on prisoners to get education. I mean if the states going to just pay for your education in prison we might as all get locked up then. I don’t think someone who killed and raped someone innocent deserves a chance of redemption. I’m sorry I really don’t, they deserve to suffer like those people he/she killed. They don’t get to better themselves and get an education. They get to rot. If we are going to be spending money on any education programs it needs to for the law-abiding citizens. I mean that’s only fair we shouldn’t even be questioning this. That’s like asking somebody if they rather pay for the education for Charles Manson or a straight a student who worked their butts off. I agree with Mr.Astorino completely. He is totally right that investing money in prison education sends the wrong message to hard-working families. It seriously does send the wrong message why should the people who killed innocent kids get an education that’s paid for and not the law abiding citizens. It’s honestly a joke how we are discussing this, this shouldn’t even be a topic. All in all, all these people that are locked up, they knew the law they knew what they did was wrong, but they continued to do it anyway. It’s a shame on them, but they don’t deserve a second chance or any redemption.
ReplyDeleteTori, I totally agree with you. We shouldnt have to spend out government money on people who killed other people. It just sends the wrong message.
DeleteIn my opinion, going to jail could really mess up your life. It will always be with you even if you were sentenced for a minor infraction. People who are in jail already don’t necessarily have social skills and might not know alternative ways how to handle a situation so they might be sentenced again for something they forgot or haven’t learned because they’ve been in jail for so long. Honestly if you want to bring education back to jails, it depends in the inmate’s sentence. I think people in jail do change, or they might not because they don’t know what to do when they get out. I mean, what are they supposed to do? Most of them don’t have a college degree so taking college courses in jail might turn their life around. Some people really do deserve a second chance. I think having the option to take college classes could get someone’s life up and running again, some of them just need a little push to make it. It’s kind of like forgetting to ride a bike all you need is someone to push you and you’re up and riding again. If they have that college education, they have less of a chance of getting back into the criminal system instead of someone who already had the chance to get an education education. I do trust it because jails have very expensive costs in general so if the prisoners don’t have to go back because they have a life again, then they are saving money. I do not agree with Mr.Astorino because we all deserve a second chance and maybe some of those people committed the crime because they didn’t know how to function in the world. We can’t fault some people for that, its morally wrong. I do think we should be able to give them a second chance considering their sentence. I would put myself in the place of a prisoner, what if you messed up and you regret the whole entire thing? Saying what Mr.Astorino said is that even though you regret what you did, it doesn’t matter you chose to ruin your life.
ReplyDeleteYes, i think prisoners should get an opportunity to get an education. I think that allowing prisoners to get a chance to college courses does give them a leg up when they are released. I think allowing them to take the courses will help them realize what they have been doing was wrong and realize what the world is really like. These courses could help them fix their lives by letting them see how the world is civilized and organized to let them restart their life. They could get a job, earn money, by a house and furniture and maybe even find someone they care about if they take the courses to help set their life on track. Yes, i do trust the research that shows money spent on prison education save the government money and are less likely to get wrapped up in the criminal justice system because if we can teach them well enough of what the outside world should be, we could maybe change their viewpoint of others and what they should do in the world. We could get them to respect others and see what they have done was inappropriate and see how they would feel if they were that person. We could change what the prisoner thinks in their mind and be able to have him/her become civilized and cooperate in the real world. No, i dont agree with Mr. Astorino because most people who end up in prison has gone through some tough times and dangerous situations. Usually they have emotional or mental problems that drive them to do something bad. HIs child doesn’t really have any problems. The prisoners all have a reason on why they did what they did that made them end up in prison. We give the money and let them have free college courses because they can't earn money while in jail and can’t change until we help them and give them the education they need. We could help change these prisoners so they can’t help our country and decrease the number of people in prison to allow there to be a better community.
ReplyDeleteI think prisoners should be given the opportunity to get an education. I believe everyone has a second chance to make things right, and this is their chance for redemption and to show that they can become better people. Everyone deserves the benefit of learning and no one should go without education. Giving prisoners a chance to go to college is a great idea. Educated prisoners will most likely not go back to jail a second time. Also they will have a better reputation and a fresh, new start with their lives like a transformation. I do think that money spent on prison education can benefit government money in the long run because the more prisoners that are educated, the more will come out of prison and the less will go into prison. When there’s less people in prison, less money will need to be spent for education. Also, society and the economy will benefit from more good people. I think money spent on prison education doesn’t take that much away from law abiding citizens. No one completely cut their funds off, and it’s for a good cause anyways. However, investing prison education could send the wrong message to hard working families. The try to teach their kids to be good people so they don’t make the wrong choices and end up in jail, but all the new benefits for criminals is only giving kids the message to go to jail so they get a better education. I’m sure this isn’t what authorities had in mind and parents aren’t pleased with it.
ReplyDeleteI think that prisoners should be given the opportunity to get an education. This is good for the prisoners because they can do something else than just sit in a cell. It can also change them to be good citizens when they are released. The teachers and professors can change the minds mental state. They can change murders, robbers, etc., to be a normal citizen. This will help a lot to any chaos that I happening in the United States. I think this will help inmates from going to jail again. For one thing, prisoners will learn being a civilized person, rather being a wanted criminal. Also, this will give a second chance, and a thing of redemption in their lives. If they get the classes that they already need for the job or career that they want, then when they are released they can get right into classes to help them to understand their job more. With an education already they don’t have to worry about going to different jobs and being confused on what is going on. It will also insure them that the prisoners have something to go forward in. Yes, I do trust the research that shows money spent on prison education save the government money and are less likely to get wrapped up in the criminal justice system because if we can teach them well enough of what the outside world should be, we could maybe change their viewpoint of others and what they should do in the world. I don’t agree with Mr. Astorino because most people who end up in prison have suffered and probably took a beating in their depending on what they did. They can get even crazier from being trapped in a cell and a few other rooms and that can get them to do worse stuff, and educated them can be a coping method. The Westchester County, who argued that investing money in prison education sends the wrong message to families. Finally, I do think that prisoners should get a college education. We could change their lives for them and t all of us Americans.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts of giving the prisoners an education, I also think that they should be given a chance to become a normal person in society, not just someone who had to repeat their school to get back on their feet for a crime.
DeleteI agree with you Anthony.Prisoners should be able to get a job once they get out of prison and should be able to fit back into society and become a normal American citizen.
DeleteI think that prisoners should be given a chance to get an education. The justice system works out enough of a punishment without taking out an education. If you put yourself in the position of someone who committed a crime, the fact that you spent time in jail by itself will completely change your future. But if you are in high school and you are put in jail for a crime you should be given a chance to be able to live your life after you are released. Some people may believe that they should not be able to get an education but I believe that doing that is just cruel, unless said person is someone that is going to be kept in jail for life they should be sent out of jail with a chance of getting back to their feet. The main point of prison should be to remold the person into a person or worker that is acceptable in society, not to send them back in their life by not allowing them to get the a proper education. The main argument is being that they should not get an education because that uses up more tax payers money. But the truth is that they don’t have a choice of what their tax money does. People believe that they can control what the government does and where their money goes, but the truth is that they could not have less of a choice in where their money goes towards. If the prisons need more money than there are more than enough cuts of payment the government could do to allow millions of more dollars to go towards the prisons, it’s that simple. Basically, this is a topic most of the people of the U.S.A. won’t have any power over. But if you want to believe that this or any of the written statements or essays will have some sort of an influence, do as you please. All in all, I believe that the prisoners of America should still be given a chance to get an education.
ReplyDeleteI think that prisoners should definitely be given the opportunity to an education.They should because it can dramatically reduce crime rates and it can make society safer.Giving education to prisoners means that your teaching someone to get away from their criminal past.Most prisoners go to jail because they don’t know any better or they aren’t educated enough.Lots of people that originally were in prison go back to prison as soon as they get out because they have no other choice but to go back to crime.With education prisoners have a chance to establish a career or get a well paying job.Most prisoners they just get out have a really hard time getting a job.That is why taking college courses for prisoners is good because they will be able to have a skill and get accepted into better jobs.While prisoners have education they won’t have to go back to crime in order to survive.I also believe that money spent on prison education saves money for the government because prisoners getting involved in the justice system just causes more money for the government and nothing ever gets solved.The prisoners that just get out of jail just go back because they don’t know any better.Giving prison education this helps prisoners and saves money.It also would reduce crime rates dramatically and make society safer.I don’t think that money spent on prison education takes away from money that could be spent on education programs for law-abiding citizens because prisoners need education.It needs balance the budget for education.We need enough money for prison education and enough for education for law-abiding citizens.Prison education makes society safer because it lowers the crime rate and brings more law-abiding citizens into society.Prison education is important and it needs to be widespread.It will lower crime rates and help prisoners be able to get well paying jobs once they get out of prison.It might be able to even help them start a career.
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