Nine prisoners at the Jessup Correctional Institution in Maryland are working toward their college degrees, and the hope is that the positive change they鈥檙e experiencing will be contagious.
At a gathering inside the prison library in Jessup, Maryland, Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Carolyn Scruggs talked about what鈥檚 behind the Bowie State University degree program at the prison.
鈥淣inety percent of the individuals who are incarcerated [within the facility] with me 鈥� where are they going? They鈥檙e going back into the community,鈥� she said. So, Scruggs poses the question: 鈥淲hy not 鈥� while I have their attention 鈥� make them successful?鈥�
Mark C. Booker, instructor with the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Human Services at Bowie State, agreed with Scruggs on the need to equip people who are serving time in prison for a future outside its walls.
鈥淭hey may have victimized individuals,鈥� Booker said, 鈥渂ut this is now a transformation in their behavior, and they deserve the opportunity to have this learning.鈥�
Booker said he introduces the men who take part in the college program to a number of concepts. Number one, he said, 鈥淚 teach them to have a hopeful attitude. Number two is to crave rigor and number three, you must have stubborn discipline.鈥�
Among the men enrolled in the courses that lead to a degree in sociology is Kyle Longerbeam, who was frank about his reason for initially signing up. For him, the attraction was 鈥済etting out of the cell, just to be out and about,鈥� but he said, 鈥淥nce I got into the class, there was no looking back.鈥�
Now, Longerbeam said he talks about what he鈥檚 learning during wide-ranging conversations with his son. They encourage each other. 鈥淚 ask him questions about writing. My weakest point is punctuation,鈥� Longerbeam said. “So I talk to him about it, because that鈥檚 where he excels.鈥�
Longerbeam then offers his son advice on algebra, 鈥渂ecause that鈥檚 my department,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚 love math, I always did.鈥�
Longerbeam said he was an average high school student who did the bare minimum to be eligible to play football. College was not something he pictured for himself. 鈥淚 never thought this was me, I thought I wasn鈥檛 smart enough for college.鈥�
Damon McDuffie, another enrollee, said he was working to get his high school diploma at the prison when he heard about the college degree program. He said he didn鈥檛 take school seriously as a teenager, and that if he could talk to his younger self, he鈥檇 say: 鈥淜eep going, don鈥檛 give up. There鈥檚 a lot more doors that鈥檒l open up now than if you do it later on.鈥�
McDuffie said now he sees how he might be able to help others in the future. 鈥淚鈥檓 just trying to change, I鈥檓 here to help make change,鈥� he said.
Jermain Williams said he鈥檚 the very first person in his family to take college courses and has surprised himself at his progress. 鈥淚 was in special education. So my education was low,鈥� but, 鈥渁 lot of that came from a lack of effort.鈥�
Since enrolling in the Bowie State program at Jessup, Williams said, 鈥淚鈥檝e been doing a lot of studying, a lot of reading and pushing myself to keep up. And now I鈥檓 learning 鈥� education is the way!鈥�
Timothy Hawkins, who grew up in Baltimore, said he had some college before going to prison, but that he too wasn鈥檛 serious about it at the time.
鈥淲hen I was younger, as a child, I didn鈥檛 want to be near a book,鈥� Hawkins said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e young, you think you know everything.”
But as he鈥檚 gotten older, he said, 鈥淭he world is a lot bigger than the block that you live on or the school that you go to.鈥�
All of the men who spoke to 蜜桃视频app at the prison said when they go back to the general population, they鈥檒l be asked about what they鈥檙e studying when they’re seen reading a book or writing. Hawkins said, “I鈥檒l sit and explain it to them, so they learn things that way.鈥�
Williams said some other prisoners will tease the participants in the college program. 鈥淵ou might have a few guys that鈥檒l say something behind your back,鈥� but Williams said he doesn鈥檛 let that bother him. And, he said, most often the reaction is positive.
鈥淲hen I go back on my unit, with the other youth, I can teach them a few things that I learned in school, and that right there inspires them to want to come to Bowie State University.鈥�
The corrections officials, along with the administrators and instructors at Bowie State, said the idea is that when prisoners return to their communities, their success as students will not just improve their lives, but the communities where they live.
Hawkins said he鈥檚 been thinking about maybe starting a nonprofit: 鈥淪omething to help Baltimore,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ince I鈥檓 from Baltimore, I think I need to give back to the community.鈥�
