<p>Has anybody out there had any experience with or know a student who participated in this type of adventure while in college?I just heard about this opportunity,and I must say,it scares me,particularly as the mother of a pretty girl.I know it is done through the school,but is it safe?</p>
<p>This would NEVER happen in HS, as the kids are under 18, but once they’re 18 (Gulp, adult), they’re allowed to do this. But is it safe? Prisons are all different…some much tamer or wilder than others.</p>
<p>BTW: Not sure it’s “an adventure”, but it is community service.</p>
<p>I’ve volunteered at local prisons – including men’s prisons – and volunteers are screened and are told not to provide prisoners with personal information or do any favors for the prisoners (such as taking items to give to the prisoners’ friends or bringing items to the prisoner). As long as a person follows those rules, I think the person would be safe.</p>
<p>I did this in college many years ago and I agree with Northstarmom. The prisoners are selected and the meeting area is well-protected. Personally, I think the people who are in the most risky areas are the actual prisoners when there are no outsiders around.</p>
<p>I tutored prisoners at Auburn Correctional facility in NYS while in law school. It was scary…but very worthwhile. There are prison guards always present, but of course that doesn’t mean something couldn’t happen. that said, the prisoners in the program are definitely screened and felt by the administration to be safe to participate. I absolutely never had any problem with any of them. I just found the whole atmosphere to be very scary! (and the smell was overwhelming…like a men’s locker room x 100!</p>
<p>fauxmaven, I’m attending the same school as your daughter (I think, if I remember correctly) and I was actually considering joining what might have been this exact same program a week ago! I ended up doing a different service program instead that’s more pertinent to my interests, but this one definitely seemed very interesting and potentially satisfying.</p>
<p>Years ago, I interviewed for and was offered (turned down, since I’d gotten another job) a job teaching at a medium security men’s prison.
I vividly recall the interview (they told me to dress modestly and “don’t wear blue”–which is what the prisoners wore there)-- ID checks, metal detectors, a series of gates and the sound of them slamming behind me (that was erie–I felt like I was going underground, into a mine, almost), men staring at me. The interviewer was another female instructor–and then two inmates interviewed me while she watched. The two guys were extreme opposites–a huge, bald, muscular, tattoo-covered white guy who swore constantly, and an extremely effeminate skinny black guy with horn-rimmed glasses. It was pretty obvious to me that they wanted to see how I reacted to these extreme “characters”–if they would shock or offend me, etc. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t take the job. I did want to help the men, but it creeped me out. However, I’m glad I had that brief experience of seeing the inside of a prison.</p>
<p>As the mom of a freshman ,what I think is no longer relevant .(so it seems)I guess my hope is that she decides on her own this isn’t the thing for her.My D usually makes good choices,so I guess I have to wait and see.</p>