The media has jaded people in today's society, and it seems that people no longer care or even attempt to think about others problems and how to fix them. Many people in this country either do not care or are happy to be ignorant of the issues affecting our world today. If someone cannot come up with a quick fix immediately then they simply ignore the problem until it becomes intolerable. This is true when it comes to thinking about those that we put behind bars. The prison system is only brought to the forefront when they become overpopulated and it's time to create new prisons. Every couple of years this issue comes up and always the same solution is proposed. Building more prisons will only exacerbate the problem in the end, due to the ineffectiveness of prisons. While this is a way out of the problem, it does not get to the heart of the problem.
Prison Industrial Complex #occupysanquentin
Tacoma prison
Finnish prison guardAs a society we have to begin to focus on the bigger picture. It is time that people realize that creating prisons is not a solution to this problem. A practical and more permanent solution to our failing prison system is to fund the creation of new educational programs for inmates through our tax dollars.
According to statistics from the Bureau of Justice, "In 2005, over 7 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at yearend 2005 -- 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 32 adults." Statistics show that if nothing is done, these shocking figures will continue to rapidly increase throughout the years. Even though the United States does not have the largest general population, it somehow managed to have the largest prison population worldwide (Vicini). As if that is not bad enough...