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The Commissioner's Commentary
Turning the Television Set into an Educational
Tool
Members of our prison staff dutifully contend with
a host of issues -- some troublesome, others mundane -- in their
daily interaction with the inmate population. Yet, one of the
greatest potential hazards they face is time. Specifically, what
do you do with an inmate who is under your supervision 24 hours
a day, seven days a week?
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The New Jersey Department of Corrections manages
to occupy much of an offender's time with a broad spectrum
of vocational and educational activities, some of which
you will read about in these pages.
Offenders may pursue higher education classes
or literacy programs. Or, as we demonstrated just in time
for the holidays, they may create handcrafted toys for seriously
ill children. They can sew pillows for the comfort of breast
cancer patients. They may build playgrounds, or study Shakespeare,
or become virtual stockbrokers through the Stock Market
Game.
Each of these worthy endeavors builds character
and a sense of self-empowerment. Above all, these initiatives
enhance their education.
However,
there are hazards in the quiet, unoccupied times between
these activities. Here is where you may find an offender
contemplating a possible security disturbance or, far less
innocuous, watching television and while doing so gaining
no positive experiences whatsoever.
In a letter distributed to the inmate population,
I announced a new initiative, titled "Television for
Educational Use." I wrote that I am a strong advocate
of the
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Commissioner Devon Brown
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proposition that learning is a lifelong process and constitutes
one of the most important elements leading to success. While the
classroom is the conventional mode of educational enhancement, inmates
may now take advantage of the opportunities offered through the
viewing of videos produced by the Discovery Channel, the History
Channel, the Biography Channel and Arts & Entertainment. These
videos represent a wide array of award-winning documentaries and
other programs that serve to expand intellectual horizons.
Each facility will show educational videos at designated
hours by way of a controlled channel, reserved strictly for educational
video viewing. Supervisors of education will have access to catalogs
and a listing of videos from which selections will be made. The
inmate liaison representatives will take an active role in this
undertaking. Through a number of these individuals, we have determined
that the new initiative already is garnering positive feedback.
For example, we are entertaining several offenders' requests for
more cultural programming to add to the diverse library of materials
being broadcast throughout our facilities.
David P Gardner, former president of the University
of Utah, Salt Lake City, once said, "We learn simply by the
exposure of living. Much that passes for education is not education
at all but ritual. The fact is that we are being educated when
we know it least."
I could not agree more, which is why the idea of
passive education in the form of recreational television is such
an attractive initiative.
By controlling what offenders can watch during a
portion of the day, and by offering such divergent titles as Ancient
Rome, and In Search of History -- Ship of Slaves -- The Middle
Passage, we may capture the an inmate's imagination and spark
an interest in further exploration of the subject.
Through this initiative, we attempt to eliminate
idle time, those empty spaces in which trouble often brews. We
offer our inmate population the privilege of knowledge, filling
those empty spaces with the opportunity for growth. As you will
see in this issue of Inside Corrections, these kinds of opportunities
abound.
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