News and Features
Students Visit Jail
In early April, a visit to the local jail helped 98 Lancaster Mennonite High School sociology students put a human face to their classroom discussions of crime and punishment. The prison visit was a real eye opener for students, and many wrote about their experiences.
“Our visit contained a vast amount of educational experiences,” junior Rebecca Yoder wrote. “To study the environments of our nation’s prisons is one thing, but to walk the halls is another …. Now, as I pass by the facility, I try to remind myself what is really … within the walls, and how I can begin to process the effects it has on me.”
Senior Brianna Lehman, after learning about how many inmates return to prison, called for a faith response in her writings.
“This is where the church must step in and provide the materials and teachings of how to get out of this cycle and mentality of sin and crime,” she said. “There is a fine line between mercy and justice. Most of the inmates ... do deserve to be there and experience the consequences of their actions. At the same time, they need to be shown mercy and be given a second chance. Showing mercy could mean meeting with the inmate on a weekly basis and talking, listening, and loving them. Another good way is to help them ... start a new life with a job, place to live, food, or whatever else they may need. Many of these people just need to be shown love and feel accepted.”
Junior Darian Harnish believes that the restoration approach (one that would include more halfway houses) would greatly reduce the urgent need to build a new prison.
“Prisons should be taking more steps toward helping prisoners as they are released, and while in prison, to become functioning members of the society in which they live,” he said. “This is the only way that prisons will become effective in reducing crime rates and helping the communities in the long run.”
The field trip followed a sociology unit in which social studies teacher Sheri Wenger challenged her students to examine from a Christian perspective the issues of overcrowding, rehabilitation, recidivism (percentage of prisoners who return to prison), and the treatment of prisoners.
Prior to the visit to Lancaster County Prison, guest speakers from Justice and Mercy Inc. (a non-profit, Christian-based agency in Pa. that is working to promote) and Beth Shalom (a Lancaster facility that provides transitional housing for women released from prison) visited classes to talk about possible reforms for Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system.
