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."