Some Kids Going To College Others To Prison

In the United States, two institutions guide teenagers on the journey to adulthood: college and prison. Sociologist Alice Goffman spent six years in a troubled Philadelphia neighborhood and saw first-hand how teenagers of African-American and Latino backgrounds are funneled down the path to prison — sometimes starting with relatively minor infractions. In an impassioned talk she asks, “Why are we offering only handcuffs and jail time?”



Say what you will, how many of us were forced to grow up this way. I can't imagine what I would have become if I was born of the wrong color or side of the tracks. We can blame this persistent generational cycle on parents or the kids, but at the end of the day.. pointing fingers will not solve these problems.

There's two things worth noting. During the great depression (1933) the unemployment rate was 25%. In the neighborhood where Baltimore blacks are carrying on the unemployment rate is 50+%. The other worth mentioning is how we tend to lock people up in cages like animals. Even animals end up going bonkers w/o someone caring enough to rescue them. For some it's too late but not for all.

It's been said whether you beat an animal or another human long enough they will become hostile. It should be clear by now we can't incarcerate ourselves out of this problem. Now either we can go on doing things the way we always have or consider other options. Any thoughts?


Blogging Side NoteI've posted time and again about a lot of hot button issues that draw my attention and are important to me (such as this one). From time to time I become curious what readers think. This is one of those times

Am I off base with these opinions?
Is what I'm posting interesting and/or informative to my readers?
If so, why have so few communicated/interacted through comments?
Does anyone spend the time to view the videos (such as the one I posted above) long enough to form an opinion?

In-so-much as not participating or becoming interactive with these articles is sending a rather clear message in of itself I suppose. If you check out the other blogs on my sidebar many of those others are fading because they too (like myself) don't have active participants. I strongly urge readers to be interactive (if not with me) at least with these others who have given of their time. Otherwise there will be less and less of them due to the lack of interest. That's not a good thing.