MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES

Correctional Officers Share The Realities Of Life Behind Bars With Pupils
In Sullivan

SULLIVAN -- An "alarming number" of young people are joining the ranks
of the 2 million inmates incarcerated in American prisons.

Most of them are there because of just one mistake, a mistake they
made because of a friend.

That was the message a group of federal correctional officers from
Peoria brought to Sullivan on Tuesday as part of a program by the Safe
& Drug-Free Schools Consortium, administered through the Regional
Office of Education based in Charleston.

"Every one of us has been conditioned to beware of strangers," Carl
Cannon told more than 300 sixth through eighth-graders from Sullivan
Middle School and Windsor Junior High. "Who told us to beware of
someone you call friend?"

Cannon said inmates come from all walks of life and most of them "have
faces that look just like yours. But in that single "unguarded moment"
when life called on them to choose "to do the right thing or the wrong
thing," they chose the latter -- and most are living to regret it.

He told of one inmate from Peoria who shoplifted a pack of gum and
tried his first cigarette, both at the encouragement of a friend. "It
gets easier to do the wrong thing he said. "Your heartbeat increases
because you know it's wrong, but the next time, it doesn't increase as
much. Your anxiety level goes up, but not as high. The queasiness is
there, but it's not as bad.

Fully 99 percent of inmates, Cannon said, are doing time because of a
friend's influence. Seventy Percent are in prison because of a
drug-related crime, and 90 percent of them started with nicotine.

A native of Peoria, Cannon told the students he was All-Conference in
wrestling and football in high school, then "went to college for the
wrong reason, for athletics. I soon found out it's about academics.
Knowledge is power."

He dropped out of college but joined the U.S. Army, where he became a
senior drill sergeant. Now 39, he's married with two daughters.

Cannon advised students that, rather than listening to a friend --
"someone who's been on the planet only as long as you have" -- they
should listen to parents, teachers and other adults "who are living,
walking examples of people who have been there, done that, the right
way."

That message "reinforces what our teachers and counselors have been
telling us," said Ryan Becker, a Sullivan sixth-grader.

The graphic details of prison life from correctional officer Jerry
Stoneburner struck a note with Lindsay Ray, an eighth-grader from
Sullivan. "You get the picture from your parents, but he made it come
to life."

Officer Lew Westercamp looked the audience over and pointed out that
all the pupils were white, something that fewer than 28 percent of his
inmates are. "We don't segregate by crime or by race; you go where the
bed is," he said. "You may be with a serial killer, an international
terrorist, a child molester or someone who wants to know you real
well. You don't know, and I don't care. Prison is dirty, it's nasty
and it's not cool. We don't need you in our system, we don't want you,
and you don't have to be there."

That sounded fine by Josh Sinkler, a seventh-grader, and Derek
Righter, an eighth-grader, both from Sullivan. Sinkler said he plans
to avoid the institution by making the right choices; Righter said
he's going to pay attention in class.

Cannon said young women are going to prison at twice the rate of their
male counterparts, chiefly because they can't say "no." He added, "If
you say 'no' and giggle, no one will believe you."

He had the girls stand at their seats and shout 'No' to reinforce his
message.

"Girls need all the help they can get," said Abbey Lane, a Sullivan
eighth-grader, after the presentation. "Guys need to respect girls,
and girls need to respect guys."

The officers' talk played well with the students. Heidi Harshman, a
seventh-grader from Sullivan, noted, "This is every bit as important
as sitting in a classroom. We're learning something."