Why Prisons Don T Work Wilbert Rideau Summary

Throwing people in prisons is not the answer that ensures a safe and better community. In the article, “Why Prisons Don’t Work,” Wilbert Rideau, a nineteen year-old African American boy, who was sent to prison because of allegations saying he killed a bank teller during a robbery. Rideau claims that the system is not working in the way many people think it is. Prisons were made to keep society safe and the dangerous perpetrators out of our daily lives. Over the years, it has been corrupted and is a dangerous and perilous environment for the inmates and eventually for the nation. All we are doing is taking people who have made impulsive, uneducated, and stupid choices, locking them up and not providing the necessary rehabilitation to help the prisoners change. …show more content…
According to Rideau, “The prison houses 4,600 men and offers academic training to 240, vocational training to a like number.” Once someone is convicted of a crime they should not be locked away and forgotten. They need an education in a trade so if they are released to society they will become skillful and purposeful citizens. The choices that they made to land in a prison were most likely due to uneducated and impulsive decisions. When they are locked away we should not neglect them, we should give them the opportunities to improve their lives. According to Dr. Renford Reese, founder and director of PEP, Prison Education Program, the ultimate goal is to create a prison-to-school pipeline and provide the inmates with the learning tools necessary to work as productive citizens, which will also aid them to not fall back into their criminal