EPT"Beyond Scared Straight" - Page 2
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ahx
Canada132 Posts
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Truedot
444 Posts
On September 08 2011 04:11 DeepElemBlues wrote: This is the first thread I've started I think period on TL and definitely the first in the General Forum, so I'm going to try to do as well as I can with it. I don't know how many of you are familiar with just how many reality shows there are on television these days (I bet most of you are): zillions. Some of them are good, some of them are awful, most of them are middling. But I only ever saw one that really disturbed me, and it is this "Beyond Scared Straight" show. COPs is one thing, watching "Inside Jail" or whatever with adults is one thing, watching grown men (the sheriffs and guards, not the adult inmates) provoke and then gang up on teenagers is another. It made me sick to my stomach. Does a 15 year old skateboarder who looks like he weighs about 120 pounds really need some 220-lb beefcake prison guard screaming shit in his face? When his crime was to be caught at school with a quarter-ounce of weed? Is this really going to turn him away from a life of crime? Is "randomly" picking the biggest, meanest-looking kid in the room, telling him repeatedly you'll "fuck him up" and to "get out of my face" while you are the one who got in his face, and then having your guard buddy forearm him from behind to "make him sit back down" really going to make him think something other than "I need to be even bigger and badder so people can't do this to me"? And then they have the interviews with the top sheriff of the country, principals, etc., and they all sit there like robots saying the same thing, how these kids need someone to set them straight, how they're trying to save these kids from a lifetime in jail, do they even watch the show? Do they even care? Do they wonder why kids in the inner city have no respect for authority figures in school when their only experience with non-parental authority is probably through being brutalized in "scared straight" programs? I felt like I was watching Schindler's List or The Pianist to be honest. And I think part of the reason is that these guards and sheriffs feel like they have a freer reign to be abusive verbally and physically because they're going to be on "TV" and it needs to be "good TV." You're never going to teach children, or adults for that matter, to respect the law and the authority that enforces it if the only justification for that authority they are ever shown is "we can hurt you and we will." And I definitely blame "reality television" as well, there's a difference between COPS, where you're just riding with police on routine patrol (and sometimes on planned sting operations or raids) and whatever happens, happens. It's a different thing when you're going into a correctional facility where you know one side holds all the power so the only drama that is going to occur is from that one side exercising that power. And when one side has all the power and the other side zero, the power will get abused. And that's why they are there, and that's what disturbs me. The only reason "reality TV" cameras are inside these places is because they know it's good television when someone is screaming in someone's face, someone is physically overpowering someone, shit's going down. And it's a "safe environment," six sheriffs in uniform (or even riot police which I saw them call in one time for no apparent reason other than a kid refused to leave his cell) aren't going to have a trouble beating down a 17 year old. Who cares if it turns them into more hardened criminals for the future? Commercials are being sold, I'm sure the prison / county gets money from the network for the "privilege," everyone benefits. Except the people the whole damn thing is actually supposed to benefit, the "wayward" kids themselves. thats the point. its sad to see and even with the majority of teachers, noone reallly gives a shit about the children. Oh, they'll expound endlessly about it, try to look good, but in the end people are only out for themselves. Watch "waiting for superman", and you'll see. I highly recommend it if you're a U.S. citizen and don't know whats going on with education in your country. Teachers that are so horrible they're paid to sit in a room all together doing nothing? As if they are all middle school students in detention? You better watch if that tag grabs your interest. http://www.alternet.org/story/152310/teen_girl_forced_to_give_cop_oral_sex__what_the_sick_abuse_of_authority_says_about_our_rape_culture here's one again, amid all the rampant "teens are children" and "child molestor" and "pedophile" media frenzy and scares, and all the "new" cases being harped on, you'll find that even some police don't really give a shit. Although I disagree with the article on one thing, rape is about sexual grat as much as it is about power. Noone robs a bank and finishes up by blowing their load on a customer. On September 08 2011 05:57 ahx wrote: The really stupid part about this show is they get kids who have done such trivial "crimes" I think one kid I saw on there was in trouble cause he was getting into some fights at school? which was discovered was just pent up anger from his mom dying...which is just sad.. bringing this kid to a jail and yelling at him wasn't the right way to go about dealing with his situation, but hey, that's television. I get to say this because I have U.S. Citizenship: The U.S. is a witchhunt mentality. its an extremist mentality. Everything has to be done bigger, small things have to be blown out of proportion. things that were minor trivialities in the 70's or 80's are now huge and horrendously bad things. Kids getting in fights are no longer kids being kids, but kids that are future murderers who need to be treated as harshly as possible. The U.S. is going mad like the Romans did before their civilization fell apart, and this time we can't blame lead water piping. | ||
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Horst
338 Posts
f'ing hillarioius. Also, just because this is billed as "reality", doesn't mean its real. I bet the kids know what to expect going in, and their parents all agreed to it. | ||
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BlackFlag
499 Posts
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ampson
United States2355 Posts
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tomtom2234
United States46 Posts
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BlackFlag
499 Posts
On September 08 2011 06:32 ampson wrote: It's the parents who send them there, so if there's anyone to blame, blame them. However, I see this as positive. After that program, a kid with any sense at all will stay out of trouble. That's pretty naive. If you would be right, no one would commit a crime after being raped in prison if he has any sense at all. The world and the human being aren't that easy to analyze. | ||
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ilj.psa
Peru3081 Posts
On September 08 2011 05:38 andrewlt wrote: Sounds terrible. Treatment like this is why the US has one of the highest recidivism rates in the entire planet. I wonder what will you do to those kids that break the law and think they run the world. This is a legit way of making them change their mindset to avoid jail, being in jail for years now THAT is terrible. On September 08 2011 06:36 BlackFlag wrote: That's pretty naive. If you would be right, no one would commit a crime after being raped in prison if he has any sense at all. The world and the human being aren't that easy to analyze. Nothing has a 100% success rate. But it helps On September 08 2011 05:57 ahx wrote: The really stupid part about this show is they get kids who have done such trivial "crimes" I think one kid I saw on there was in trouble cause he was getting into some fights at school? which was discovered was just pent up anger from his mom dying...which is just sad.. bringing this kid to a jail and yelling at him wasn't the right way to go about dealing with his situation, but hey, that's television. The point is that the kid was choosing a wrong path for his life. Of course they are trivial 'crimes', how do you think it all starts? | ||
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yagsllab
Germany33 Posts
what i dont get is why they say straight. is it cause they dont want them to be gay? my english is very bad sorry | ||
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trainRiderJ
United States615 Posts
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FabledIntegral
United States9232 Posts
On September 08 2011 04:24 DeepElemBlues wrote: The worst part to me was the nearly ubiquitous references - by the guards - as to how all these kids were going to get raped if they really went to jail, how "everyone" wanted their ass "and was gonna get it." Rape is a crime, in prison or not. Making threats as a prison guard about how someone is going to get raped in jail is basically a promise that they are going to be derelict in their duties and in fact are malevolently negligent, they "know" it's going to happen, and they won't do anything to stop it, they "know" it will happen. That's fucked up and I really can't believe it. Yes... and no. Even if the guards do attempt to prevent it, it'll happen regardless. These aren't the actual guards letting it happen, nor are they saying they openly will let it happen. Rather, they're merely reinforcing the fact that prison rape is indeed very common. While maybe it's sending a poor message on how prison facilities are run, I think it could still be a very valuable method of deterring existing potential criminals. Haven't watched the show though, and I do think you have a valid point. On September 08 2011 06:40 ilj.psa wrote: The point is that the kid was choosing a wrong path for his life. Of course they are trivial 'crimes', how do you think it all starts? It's probably the extent of how trivial... to me this sounds like it's definitely the wrong path. If anything, counseling or a psychiatrist to help him cope better emotionally would be far more ideal, at least in my opinion. | ||
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Fishgle
United States2174 Posts
On September 08 2011 06:40 yagsllab wrote: hi i think its unfair he had to go to a camp because he likes skateboarden. what i dont get is why they say straight. is it cause they dont want them to be gay? my english is very bad sorry What they are using is the original slang definition of straight, or "straight-edge." Basically it's a kid who does things right, doesn't do drugs, follows rules etc. the term is used in lots of different contexts, sometimes negatively, sometimes positively, so yea it gets kinda confusing. | ||
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Dagobert
Netherlands1858 Posts
Watched the first episode to get a bit of an idea what the program is about. Now, some kids might indeed see this as a wake-up call, but the vast majority of kids who 'get into trouble' genuinely need help; be it emotional support or therapy. Punishment or 'scare tactics' won't do shit for these kids, because once they go back to their daily lives, they are surrounded by the same people, they're in the same situation, with the same needs. | ||
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bbulzibar
United States80 Posts
I decided then that I never want to go to jail. Any romanticized versions of jail have dissapeared. It's been really effective in my case. So coming from that perspective, I can't see this as being a bad thing. It's not like you are treated like that forever, its only temporary and really makes you think about if you want to spend 25 years in a place like that. | ||
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Freeheals
United States488 Posts
Overall I think it's still effective, these kids are punks ^^ | ||
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scarper65
1560 Posts
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Cops
United Kingdom172 Posts
Oh and it's not disturbing at all. | ||
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nalgene
Canada2153 Posts
On September 08 2011 05:54 GreEny K wrote: That... is fucking terrifying. I would hate to have that guy yelling in my face for a minute straight... And it looks like there's a whole row of them waiting to get their turn. The presence of that particular man would have been scary enough... the melan like epidermis is scary at a young age. Part 3/4/5 of that movie seems more interesting... they get some bigger discussion going on... | ||
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killa_robot
Canada1884 Posts
On September 08 2011 04:19 Millitron wrote: I haven't seen this show, but I remember the original Scared Straight from back in the 80's, and that seemed pretty effective. Basically they took troubled highschool kids to prisons, and let them see just how horrible it was, and that if they didn't straighten up that thats where they'd end up. If the new program is as horrible as you describe, it's a true shame. I've seen the show. Everything from the cop to the actual inmates is all an act, and a poor one at that. The cops all act like passive aggressive assholes. One second they'll be screaming in the kid's face to "do something about them being in their face" and the next they'll be trying to show sympathy for them and telling them they should hug their mother. The inmates vary, there are rooms where they all yell at the kids threats from beating them to turning them into their bitch (with the cops actually enforcing these thoughts by doing things like putting the kids in the cells with them, or telling the kids "hey look that guy wants to see your ass, turn around for him"). Then the next room will have some 1-on-1 action with an inmate who has a really sad story about how they're just the victim and wish they could have made the right choices. The cops constantly try to aggravate the kids into doing something, but the kids are at the very least smart enough to know that you don't hit a cop in a prison. The premise of the show is a decent idea, as most of the kids had no real issues in their life causing them to turn this way. However the execution of the show is terrible. | ||
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Jinsho
United Kingdom3101 Posts
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