The Great Escape: Prison Education is the Ticket to Freedom
Most of us know we will be released from prison. One day, sooner or later, we will be out on the street again. The question is: will that be a one-way trip? Will each of us leave the prison world never to return? To do that, we must know how to survive – no, not survive, succeed – when we re-enter society.
Statistics are stacked against us. Most prisoners get out and, eventually, most of us find ourselves back in. There are many reasons for the high rate of recidivism (the return of ex-prisoners to incarceration), but studies consistently show that the primary cause is unemployment. On the outside you need a job to eat. To have a place to live. To support your family. To hold your head high and know you can handle freedom.
But jobs are hard to come by when you carry a prison record with you. Still, we can’t use that as an excuse. With good skills and education – solid vocational training at the very least or, even better, an advanced degree – released prisoners can overcome a prison record. In fact – and this is the good news – 75% of college-educated ex-convicts are able to surmount the stigma of their criminal record to find stable employment.1