24-Prisons as Educational Institutions

            NOTE – The following does not discuss the political and cultural issues that stack the cards against large portions of our society. Focusing on common problems may be a way to start solving these issues also.

------------------------------

            I’ve volunteered for several years at prisons in Tennessee and have learned some things.

            First, most prisoners are not that different from you and me. This is hard to believe, and hard to assimilate once you come to believe it. There definitely are prisoners who are exactly what you would think and should never ever get out into society again, but they are a minority. This is a good thing, because more than 90% of all incarcerated people in US prisons will one day be released.

            Most prisoners are there not because they are bad people and not always because they have made catastrophically bad decisions—though most have, usually under the influence of alcohol or drugs—sometimes they just had catastrophically bad luck making a fairly ordinary bad decision as you and I may have made at one time or another. One man I know (he’s out now on parole and doing well) was driving drunk as a young man in his twenties (did you ever do that? I did.). He didn’t see a stop sign and swerved to miss another car. He ran his car off the road and into the side of a condominium knocking in part of the wall. He was unhurt, and the condominium had only isolated damage to the wall. 

            He found out the next day there was a 70-year-old woman who had fallen asleep on her couch on the other side of that wall. She died. He got 15 years for vehicular manslaughter and will live the rest of his life with her death on his conscience.

            The second thing I learned is that no prisoner wants to ever go back to prison once they are released. Those who are capable of change—and that is most of them—are looking for anything they can learn to help them stay in the free world the next time they get the chance.

            So, the third thing I learned is that prisons are educational institutions. Most prisoners are learning every day, anything that might help them get out and stay out of prison. They are learning even if they aren’t taking classes or working at prison jobs. They are learning from each other. The two main paths of education available to them are either 1) learning how to be better citizens so they don’t become criminals again, or 2) learning how to be better criminals so they don’t get caught again.

            It doesn’t take much thought to decide which path is better for society. These people are going to be our neighbors again someday. It is in our interest to help them become good citizens and good neighbors.

            What can you do? First, see for yourself. Call your state department of corrections and ask about public tours of the prison near you (yes, there is one) and make sure that your local state representatives and your governor all know that you care about this. It’s easy to send a message or email through government websites. The biggest role in helping is for government to adequately fund resources for prisoners including health and mental health as well as educational. Childhood trauma is the common life experience of people in prison. They have to get past a lot in order to learn citizenship and facilitating this will benefit all citizens.

            Governments also need to actively support volunteer programs, which cost essentially nothing. Lots of universities provide classes in prisons free of charge. Alcoholics Anonymous and their associated groups sponsor meetings inside prisons.

            At the next level, there are many church organizations and other nonprofits that work to educate or socialize prisoners and give them a first stop landing place in society when they get out. These are all underfunded and understaffed. Do what you can. Nothing is too little. It all helps.

            Most importantly, discuss this with your family, friends, and neighbors. Everyone is directly affected by this. Crime stops if people stop being criminals. 

            Again, we can’t save everyone. Some prisoners really are bad people. Leave them to God and the prisons, we can’t help them. They usually aren’t hard to recognize, particularly for corrections professionals.

            But most—really, most—prisoners want to do better and can be helped. Above all, remember that prisons are and always will be educational institutions. It’s up to us to determine what they are teaching.

Hugh Moffatt
Nashville, Tennessee
November 20, 2025