Prison time and College Degree?

Question

Okay i watched a show on tv today about some ppl that were in prison and i was totally up roared to know that people who are sentenced to life or a long time get to go to college in these institutes. Here in the outside world kids and adults struggle to get into colleges because of money funds and these inmates get dental,eyes or whatever it is they need laid out infront of them. While my father lays here in pain from an explosion when he was younger that blew up his eye and he faces many headaches to many endless nights were he cant sleep wishing he could go to the Doctor but dont have insurance or medicad. what is your opinon on this subject

Answer 1

I agree it is a bit frustrating for prisoners to receive a free college education, but we really need these people to come out of prison with a better outlook on life. If they make their curriculum requirements having a lot of ethics and humanities classes, it would help as well. I also can say it frustrating for people in society to not be able to afford health care while it also is available free to prisoners. I do think the government has a lot to do with medical policies to Americans. Their are some families, that even on low incomes still are told they make too much for assistance. It is ridiculous. The big dogs in Washington just need to get with it.

Answer 2

To educate these people is to help ensure that they have better options upon release than to simply return to the patterns that got them locked up in the first place.
And it's not "handed" to them... there are a limited number of class openings and an inmate must qualify for admittance... first by passing academic placement tests, then by having no disciplinary record in the facility and, in most cases, by being eligible for parole/release within a certain timeframe.
As to the medical/dental/optimetric care available to inmates, please don't make me laugh. In California, the only prison system with which I am familiar enough to speak of accurately, the health care has been so bad for so long that it is now in Federal Recievership... approximately one inmate a week dies from sheer medical neglect, a request to visit the infirmary can take more than a month... a man whose appendix is about to burst cannot wait a month, nor can a guy who is suffering from a staph infection or pneumonia... the dental care consists mostly of pulling any tooth that hurts, usually with no antibiotics prescribed before or after the extraction. Once a year an inmate may recieve an optimetric exam, and if he does need glasses, he may purchase them, either from the prison clinic or from an approved outside vendor. Only if he is indigent does the state provide eyeglasses.
Most of the "luxuries" everyone thinks that inmates get are nothing but a myth.
I'm sorry about your father's situation, that is truly awful... has he looked into applying for disability? It sounds like his pain is severe enough to qualify him for the Social Security benefits he has paid for in every salary check he's ever recieved and SS disability would include MediCaid benefits. If he served in the military and was honorably discharged, he may be eligible to be seen at one of the VA hospitals, many of which now have pain management clinics.
Your dad, without question, is in a terrible position, but the Department of Corrections is not to blame for that, and certainly the inmates within that system are not.
Good luck to you.

Answer 3

Many of these people - even "lifers" will be released n the street sooner or later (if you are unhappy with that, fine, but that is a different point)

So you now have two choices:

1. Have uneducated criminals released back onto the street where the chances are they have no REAL option other than to go back into a life of crime.

2. Have people who are now able to get a trade and EARN their money honestly - instead of burgling your house and stealing your car.

Which option do you YOU think is more likely to benefit YOU and the rest of society in the long run?


*up roared* ?? Not heard this word (uproar) bisected and appended in such a way before. Fascinating

Answer 4

I suppose that prisons most effective present GED methods and vocational coaching however I'm no longer thoroughly certain. There are a couple of universities that present on-line levels so if a prisoner had entry to a laptop and the web, I might suppose that doing this might be out of the query.

Answer 5

I believe that prisoners be given an education. About 95% return to prison. If all prisons/states gave them an education I doubt that they would commit crimes when out. They would be able to obtain jobs which would pay higher & contribute more to society.

Has your father checked with the welfare dept to see if he can get medical assistance? In my state some people aren't eligible for monthly checks because their income is too high but no so high that they can't receive Medicaid.

Answer 6

It's not going to do them anygood in prison. But it's something positive to do and have an opprotunity in life if they get out.

Answer 7

We want those people to be rehabilitated when they get out so they can contribute to the tax base and not be violent.