Free Argumentative Essay About Educating Prisoners

A question facing the justice system today is whether or not prisoners should be allowed the opportunity of an education. Both sides of this debate present a strong argument. But a stronger case can be made for educating prisoners. Giving prisoners an education would provide them with the chance to improve themselves. Upon their release they would have a better chance at contributing to society with the marketable skill they had learned and the knowledge they had acquired. Criminals do not normally get hired easily but perhaps a criminal who tried to better themselves while in prison would have an easier time finding a job. In turn they would stimulate the economy with their expendable income instead of draining it by being another body in a cell.
Educating prisoners could be very beneficial for individuals who have committed crimes. Not everybody is a career criminal; some people simply make mistakes. If these individuals were given a chance to learn a marketable skill or gain an education that they were not afforded growing up they would stand a better chance at living a crime-free life once released. This chance to better themselves may be the boost that some prisoners need to show them they do not have to live a life of crime but have potential to be something more. They will see that they are smart and capable of giving more to the community than they are taking from it. This can have an empowering impact on the prisoners which will help keep them in line upon their release.
A person with an education has a undoubtedly better chance at getting a job and contributing to society in a healthy way. Educating prisoners would give them a better chance of doing this once they were released. Teaching them a skill or providing job training would allow them to obtain gainful employment after their release. As a result this would keep them from returning to their familiar lives of crime which would prevent them from returning to jail. As a direct result this would save the government money. Fewer prisoners in jail mean fewer people to take care of and, in this case, fewer people to educate. In the long run educating prisoners could help save the prison system money. Criminal activity tends to run in a cycle so, for example, if a criminal is incarcerated but receives education, he or she is less likely to be re-incarcerated. This sets a good example for their children as well as other family members. Educating prisoners and helping them stay out of prison could be what helps break the cycle of crime.
Giving prisoners the tools they need to get a job could be very stimulating for the economy. Typically criminals do not have many skills; that’s why they are criminals. With education or job training they would stand a better chance at getting a documented, credible job. This would make the once criminal a tax payer with expendable income. The individual begins paying taxes like the rest of us, and spending the expendable income on whatever his or heart desires which stimulates the economy. All the while they are also working a job that contributes to society. At one point they were a drain on the country’s resources but thanks to the education program they are now an upstanding citizen, contributing in all the ways any other citizen would. Much like receiving the education itself, contributing like this can also have an empowering impact on the prisoner. Giving them an education led to a job which turned them away from a life of crime. Essentially the education program let them take back control of their life. To feel in control again can be comforting and give a sense of security. Knowing that they have a skill or even many skills to fall back on in order to survive and make money can ensure that they never resort to unlawful acts to get by ever again.
Whether or not to educate prisoners while in prison is highly debatable. If they are willing to try, educating prisoners shows a lot of potential. It can keep them out of prison in the future, help them obtain lawful, gainful employment, and help stimulate the economy that they had once helped drained. Being educated and skilled at something would help them get a decent job more quickly, further ensuring that they would not return to a life of crime in order to make some fast, easy money. It is costly to educate prisoners but if it is what they need to be rehabilitated successfully, as well as what they need to stay out of prison and put money back into the economy, eventually the expenditure could pay for itself while lowering crime rates and educating more of the country in the process.