http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~kastor/private/schools-as-prisons.html
This article describes how in recent years, schools have been built that represent prisons. The main two ways the article describes this correlation was through structure and surveillance. Overall, this shows that the educational system has no faith in their youth. They do not trust or have any expectations for the students and when this happens, the youth will fulfill the expectations of the institutions and teachers but not surpass them.
This is simply another way for prisons to get more inmates and, as the number of private prisons is increasing, this is profitable for these institutions. Why would the government want to support these private companies if they are not directly profiting from them? Well, most private prisons donate large amounts of money to campaigns for elected officials. When these people are elected then, they look out for the interests of these private institutions. Therefore, nobody will question the growth of prisons because the majority of the population see’s the crackdown on crime as beneficial to our society.
The intention behind building this school was that it would reduce violence in and around the school. This was not the case however because according to the article, “Repression hasn't halted growing violence outside the schools, and the schools ARE a microcosm of the world around them. Figures from the National School Safety Center show that during the 1993-1994 school year 46 students were killed on school grounds during the school day. Moreover, 3 million felonies and misdemeanors are committed at schools annually, and the severity of crimes has increased.” If these results have already been determined, why is this a model that many other states and school districts are looking at? In my opinion, I do not think that this type of school structure is conducive to youth growth and development both educationally and mentally. Instead we should have high expectations for our students and trust them. That is not to say that if they get caught doing something they should not be punished or talked to. In the beginning, they should be given trust and if they do something to take that trust away then they can be monitored but also given a chance to regain that trust.
Kubik - BacaBerita dan Raih Pulsa
5 years ago
2 comments:
I agree that this is a bad model to design schools for our youth after. The statistics that you have given should be enough for a change. It is a shame to think that the owners of these private prisons have such a large voice due to their contributions to campaigns. Hopefully, something will be done to further prevent this type of model from continuing. You are right that our youth do need to be trusted and not treated as criminals. If they act inappropriately then deal with it. However, the model that has been established seems to be setting these kids up for failure and to some extent they do not really even have a chance.
I think it is sad but at the same time ironic and funny that systems are put into place to control and advise people on how to act and what to do but they don't look any further into it. We think that just because it is happening to people on the other side of the state or country that it wont happen to us. Unfortunately we don't realize that by continually allowing these actions we are getting deeper than we can control. This is just another step in further taking the power away from where it belongs with the people. Eventually our country will be an entire prison.
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