INMATE PROGRAM TALKS ABOUT PRISON LIFE

Teens Hear Tales Of Hardships And Realities Of Being Behind Bars.

Billy Self removes his shirt, and the 18-inch scar - from his belly-button
to his chest - becomes a teaching tool.

It's a remnant of Angola State Penitentiary where he spent 20 years for
murder and was the youngest inmate ever there at age 15. He killed a
plain-clothes deputy, trying to impress an older, cooler crowd who had
promised to take care of him.

On his first day, another inmate tried to "make him his wife." They fought,
and he remembers seeing blood run down his leg. He awoke in a hospital ward.

Welcome to prison life, he tells people. Welcome to the world of
institutionalization full of broken teeth, making people "their property,"
losing lifelong friends and missing family Christmases and daughters'
basketball games.

This story of choices and chances long-gone has been made real since
December at Caddo Correctional Center where Self and 14 other inmates
perform original dramas and testimonies for visiting young audiences.

Based on other reality-driven inmate programs, this effort has a twist: the
inmates themselves initiated it and none of it will get them good-time or
related credit in the eyes of the law.

"It won't count for a thing except them getting something from it deep down
inside," said David Boone, programs manager at CCC. "(Self) asked me if
they can do this. A lot of people have good intentions, and they don't pan
out. I just provided them with the time, and they put it all together."

The program is called the Juvenile Awareness and Substance Abuse
Intervention program, and audiences so far have included juveniles on
probation or other at-risk youth whose programs include tours of
correctional facilities.

"I don't think I want to come back this way," said Kisha Reed, 18, who came
with a group of five from Shreveport Job Corps Center on Thursday. "I know
I complain a lot, but I can step outside and take a breath of fresh air."

Growing up in a high-crime neighborhood in Monroe, Reed said she is the
only sibling of 10 to try to stay away from a troubled path of drugs or
jail. She said even her mother spent four years in a state female prison
for drug-related charges.

Reed said she used to drink and smoke marijuana. She dropped out of high
school and was on track to end up in jail, she said. But she's gotten her
GED through Job Corps and is now a certified nursing assistant with goals
of being a licensed nurse.

"Some of these guys are so young," she said. "They are going to grow old,
and they're going to die here. But they made the choice, so I can't feel
sorry for them. You want them to be able to get one more chance."

But some won't. And now they're just a number. Choices were taken away.
They eat, bathe and sleep when someone else says to. They throw their
bright, orange jump suits in a pile for cleaning each day and grab a fresh
one the next. Many say they find a cathartic redemption of sorts in
influencing the young not to copy them.

"Now you can't say you didn't know. We just told you," said Richard Miller,
an inmate who one time had scalding hot water, shaving cream and baby oil
dumped on him for fighting back attackers. "That foolishness out there is
not what you need. What y'all need is God."

Self came up with the idea from a similar program that he took part in
while at Angola. He was pardoned eight years ago but entered CCC after an
arrest for an intoxication charge in Shreveport.

Self and others in this new program are from the Fox Trot pod at CCC, a
dorm for which inmates must apply to get in. Fox Trot residents must take
part in self-help programs like addiction recovery or life-skills courses,
thus giving up spare free time for basketball or other recreation. The
sacrifice is worth it all, they say.

"Nowadays, you can't scare kids," said Anthony Reed, who is unrelated to
Kisha Reed and is a CCC inmate and narrator for the skits. "They know
everything from TV and videos. All you can do is talk straight. The best
thing to do is be truthful."

To learn more

For more information on the Juvenile Awareness and Substance Abuse
Intervention program, call David Boone, programs manager at Caddo
Correctional Center at 677-5254 ext 220.