Various professionals spoke of how important it is to give this ostracized population the chances for education their harsh circumstances took away from them.
It isn't easy to be a teacher. Much less to teach prisoners of varying backgrounds and reasons for being convicted. But this is the second year the University of Puerto Rico's Rio Piedras Campus has done its best to bring these men and women an education they can use in the future to improve their lives.
Many guest speakers told an enraptured audience of the difficult and wonderful experiences they had while working with their respective students, all of them stressing the point that, even if one goes to prison for committing a crime, it does not mean they are any less deserving of being a human being. We all make mistakes, after all. And we all have a right to make up for those mistakes and rebuild our lives.
Secretary Licenciado Ramos emphasized the need to treat these convicts as the humans beings they are. Not as the wild animals exaggerated television shows would have us believe they are. And as human beings, they have a right to try and reintegrate themselves into functioning society, contribute the world in their own, unique way, and live their lives the way any human being is meant to. In the freedom all humans have a right to.It's heart warming to know that there are people out there that are willing to work with this population. Because of stereotypes, most people believe prisoners are animals that deserve to be locked up. And while this may be true for a percentage of these people, it isn't fair to generalize. For every prisoner that is content to continue breaking the law, there is another that wishes to not have to break another law in his time to be able to live.
There is no black and white when it comes to humanity or individuals. There are only shades of gray for each unique person. There is no sense in trying to clump people together simply because they happen to have committed a crime. Just like there are bad people free in the world that have yet to commit a crime, there are good people in prison repenting for the crime they committed.
It is true that being a teacher ain't easy. It is not an easy task for anyone to explain concepts that often are quite convoluted. However, teachers in prison should look at the benefits that he or she would give by providing knowledge to the imprisoned community who is often neglected. Also, to teach in a prison should be quite interesting because one may get to learn more about the prisoners who often have the most interesting stories.
ReplyDeleteBeing a teacher to imprisoned individuals is really tough; it's true what you mentioned. I also agree with the fact that we shouldn't treat all prisioners like animals. Like you said, everyone deserves to be given equal oportunities. Great post.
ReplyDeleteIrene, I hadn't though of the conference the way you did. I focused on how the prisoners felt about educating themselves and was impacted by their great stories. However, I hadn't put myself in the position of the teachers, like you did. It can't be easy for the teacher, but if they are teaching prisoners is because their hearts are bigger than their fear to fail. I now think of how it must be for our professor Cynthia Pittmann. I would love to be a fly in the wall in those classrooms. I'm sure it's a life changing experience for every party involved.
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