Pubdate: Sun, 05 Aug 2001 Source: Island Packet (SC) Copyright: 2001,sThe Island Packet Contact: http://www.islandpacket.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1514 Author: January Holmes Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) PRISON INMATES SHARE IMPACT OF CHOICES WITH TEENS He had a promising future ahead of him. He had served four years in the Air Force, received five full college scholarships and become a college athlete with a 3.0 grade-point average. But the successful athlete instead found himself in prison serving 20 years for distribution of crack. "I did everything they told me not to do, and then it all went down the drain," he said. This convicted criminal, who asked to not be identified, is one of 20 inmates serving time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Estill who are involved in an intervention program aimed at deterring adolescents from making choices that could lead them to jail. Members of the Teenage Awareness Program -- or TAP -- shared their life experiences with 80 youths from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and Beaufort this past Wednesday. "You have a choice, but the police are not gonna give you a choice," the ex-athlete said. The choices and freedoms you have -- they will take all that away from you." Inmates discussed gang life and selling drugs -- things that are attractive to some of today's teens. But the stories they told about being involved in these activities were anything but alluring. "My girlfriend said I had to get out of the gang," one inmate, who also asked to not be identified, told the teens. "I told her when I make at least 90 grand (from selling drugs) I'll get out." The inmate said he wanted to get enough money to support his girlfriend and his children and buy a nice house and a car. When he reached $8,500, though, he said he felt the time was right to leave the gang. On the same evening he quit, he said he gave the money to his girlfriend, who placed it in a safe, and then he went off with friends to have drinks. While out, the inmate said his friend's cousin broke into their apartment and demanded the money. When the incident occurred, he said, his girlfriend was creating a new greeting on their answering machine. "You could hear her say (on the tape), 'Don't shoot me! I'm pregnant!' " he said. The next thing he said he heard on the answering machine were gunshots. His girlfriend was shot in the head, refusing to give the robber the money. "All I thought I was doing right was wrong. I hope no one has to die for you before you realize how serious your choices are," he told the group of teens. The youths did not get a chance to tour the whole facility, but many were impressed with what they did see, though it didn't reflect the rough life the inmates face behind bars. Instead, it resembled a college campus decorated with manicured lawns and beautiful trees. A baseball field sat across from the prison parking lot. The visiting room, where the teens sat during the program, also did not resemble a prison. A large, colorful mural of families standing near a lake filled a wall of the room. "This is a beautiful building, but don't let that fool you ... it's torturous," an older inmate said to the teen-agers. Many of the adolescents learned a lot from the inmates' stories. "I learned what the real thing is in jail. It's not what you see on TV," said Nia Jordan, a teen in the Hilton Head Boys & Girls Club. "I learned to never sell drugs -- you'll get caught," said Melvin Steven, another youth from the island club. The Hilton Head and Bluffton clubs said they are planning another trip to the prison for other club members who did not attend. "I hope the kids will be able to see the importance of making good choices," said Molly Smith, director of the Bluffton Boys & Girls Club. "If they choose not to see it, they will know where that road leads, too." - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe