Prison Me No-Way works with Essex students

Just before Easter, Prison Me No-Way locked up Year 10 pupils in Loughton to show them the realities of prison life as part of an innovative awareness raising initiative.

Nick Alston was delighted to see first hand the work of the Prison Me No-Way programme when they visited Roding Valley High School on March 28^th, 2013.

The young people were shown inside a mobile prison cell and a prison van, and participated in an anti-social behaviour workshop. The Metropolitan Police firearms unit SCO19 gave a workshop on knife and gun crime, and the Safer Places charity outlined the many different forms of domestic abuse.

For many pupils the highlight of the day was the Prisoner Insight workshop. Both male and female prisoners opened up about life behind bars and how their actions affected their family and friends.

Nick Alston said: “This was an incredibly thoughtful and powerful event, led by Prison Me No-Way.  Prisoners still serving sentences explained how their early involvement in anti-social or relatively minor criminal behaviour had evolved into very serious criminal offences, and very long prison sentences.  They were open and frank about the mistakes they had made as young people, and in the short video you can see the impact of their words on the students.

“I applaud Roding Valley High School for arranging the Prison Me No-Way event.  We all need  to take responsibility for our actions and behaviour, and know that what may seem a small decision can have potentially life-changing consequences.”

Through interactive workshops the programme aims to

• dispel the myths and misconceptions of imprisonment
• create awareness among young people of the ultimate consequence of crime – prison
• promote better understanding of life in prison
• discourage young people from making mistakes that could ruin their adult lives
• examine how drugs and bullying can contribute to young people getting into crime
• encourage responsible decision making and positive life skill development

 

A short video capturing some of the event can be seen here: