In 2013, the LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s Office and LaSalle Correctional Center began hosting the Youth Crime Awareness Program (YCAP). The program invites eighth grade students to tour the prison and hear testimonies from inmates. During the past two weeks, eighth graders participated in the program and once again the experience was monumental.
The vision of Sheriff Scott Franklin was to make this consequence a reality to the students, hopefully leading them to make “wise choices” in life and not have to endure such a devastating outcome.
Students tour a dorm and holding cell and inmates share their stories on how drug choices lead them down a path of crime, destruction and ultimately, prison life. Some inmates share that when disobeying parents in their teens, running with the wrong crowds, sneaking around, using tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs were some of the first bad decisions that led down this path. Sheriff Franklin reminds students that whether you start abusing drugs as a teen, or later, once you have achieved so much in life, drugs will steal those dreams and lead to jail; taking away your freedom, family, and any job or possessions you worked for.
This year, we asked for feedback from participating 8th grade students. Some of the things that impacted them were loss of freedom, family, and possessions. They realized that who they hang out with would influence their choices and lifestyle. Prison life was not how they wanted to live. Drugs will either lead to prison or death.
Ultimately, if YCAP changes one child’s life from making those bad choices, then we have succeeded!
The following are essays written by eighth grade students sharing their insight following their day at YCAP: A. Thacker – Jena Junior High School “The visit to the correctional facility was a life changing experience because it shows you where you will end up if you don’t follow the rules and make bad life decisions. It also shows what will happen even if you get out of jail because if you get out you won’t be able to resume your regular life again.
You will have to start your whole life over again but it won’t be easy it will be hard because you have to live with a criminal record forever and when jobs do background checks and they see that you have a criminal background they are less likely to hire you for a job.
The most memorable part about it was walking the halls and seeing the holding cell and how small and packed in everything was. There was no privacy to take a shower or use the restroom. Everything that they had could fit in a box and everything that they had was probably used by many different people with illnesses and diseases. Some of the people there are too afraid to even sleep because they feel like people are watching every move that they take.
Going to the correctional facility helped me realize how much freedom I had and helped me realize that jail is a cruel place to go. You can get jumped or even stabbed and killed in jail because the inmate will find stuff and sharpen them so that they can stab someone. Jail is a place where nobody wants to go. But if you make mistakes in life and hang out with the wrong propel then you might end up going to jail.
In conclusion, that is what I learned about my life changing experience at the correction facility. The field trip taught me that I shouldn’t hang around the wrong people and that jail is a dangerous place to be because anything can happen in there and the guards will not put their self in front of you for anything because it will be your fault that you’re in jail and you will just have to deal with the consequences of being in jail. I hope that I never end up in jail because it is a cruel and wicked place to be because you could die and you get all of your freedom taken away from you.”
S. Beaubouef – LaSalle Junior High School “The eighth grade gets the opportunity to visit the prison each year. We go to learn about life in prison and all of what goes on in their lives. It shows us how harsh it is and gives us a reason to strive to stay out of jail.
This trip showed me how to be a better person, more positive citizen and how to make good life choices. This trip was an educational experience for me. The impact it had on me taught me to think before I act.
It showed me that prison life is worse than everyone claims it to be. Prison is a place no one should ever want to go. It has made me want to be a better person for my community and to make better choices. It has shown me that my choices I make now have an impact on my future.
Your friends choices can also affect your life and the path you choose to go down in life. The shanks that they found in the prison demonstrates that life in prison is a harsh and difficult life to live. Visiting the prison can be an educational and informational trip for young students to experience.
The experiences that we got to be a apart of has taught me to be aware that my choices have a major impact on my future. It shows how much one wrong choice could destroy your reputation. You are always 30 seconds from being in jail. This trip has made me realize that I need to make myself a better, more positive civilized persona and more importantly, a better person.”
K. Smoot – Fellowship Elementary School “When I went to the prison with my school I was taught a lot of things people don’t usually get taught. People could drive by a prison and say to themselves or to someone, “I wonder what’s it like in prison.” A lot of people used to think prison is not that bad. When I was younger I knew that prison was a bad place but not as bad as it really is.
When people think of prison most the time they just think jail cells and being locked up. People need to realize that prison is a terrible place to end for small things you’ve done in the past. All it takes is thirty seconds and you could ruin your life.
I learned that when you go to prison, you do not get access to the outside world. You don’t get to hand out with your friends, you don’t get the freedom you had before. When in prison you always have to watch your back because people in prison may want something you have and they don’t. Prisoners will beat you to death for little reasons like using the wrong phone or using a certain shower head.
When you get jumped by a group of people in prison the guards are not going to just go in because the wait for backup and the reason they wait for back up is because they don’t want to et umped by the same group of people.
When in prison, you don’t get food you want, you don’t get to sleep, play or do what you want when you want. The guards tell you what to do every single day.
When I went to prison it taught me you do not get what you want. You don’t own a lot of things. In prison, you do what the guards tell you to do. Prisoners do not treat you well. Sometimes, if the prisoners know your crime and its really bad they could jump you and possibly kill you if they could.
When you are in prison guards. Nd cameras are watching twenty- four-seven. When I arrived at the prison I was excited and nervous and did not know what it was like being treated like a prisoner. When we got inside and they started taking us around the prison showing us how bad it really is it showed me that prison is a terrible place.”
