Why are we building more prisons?
Maha Sinnathamby AM
Founder & Visionary - Greater Springfield | Chairman - Springfield City Group
I once asked the Director of Prisons, “What is the one thing that lands a person in prison?”
Without pause or hesitation he replied, “They can’t read or write”.
What a tragedy. Where have we failed? And more importantly, how can we turn the tide?
Those of us who are parents know how much effort we put into our children. It is our job to convert our children into productive, independent individuals who can support themselves and make a meaningful contribute to society.
The tragedy of losing a child to prison would be devastating as well as the considerable cost to parents raising this child.
Our educators will tell you that a disengaged individual will become bored, then distracted, then disruptive. They will look for things to do and sadly, things that are not productive.
As the adage goes, “an empty kettle makes the most noise.”
So let us educate our children.
The cost of imprisonment is over $200,000 per annum. Give our educators one fifth of that and they will return you a valuable individual capable of contributing not only to themselves but also to society.
Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. TEACH A MAN TO FISH, YOU FEED HIM FOR LIFE.
We want everyone to benefit from our Learning City.
We have the choice to build less prisons if we invest in our human and social capital, because, quite honestly, it is our greatest resource.
Redirecting funds to learning FOR ALL will cure many of society’s problems – from the smallest of misdemeanours to the more significant crimes that land an individual in prison.
Through education Springfield city strives to be an exemplar for others to enrich their communities throughout the world. Watch this space….
Become part of our Learning City because the failure of education is the collapse of a nation.
#LearningCity #educationforall #educateforchange #humanandsocialcapital
Foster care
4 年I don't agree with this entirely. Reading and writing must come after emotional literacy. What lands a person is prison more then low reading and writing abilities is low emotional literacy.
A curious and passionate soul working daily to be the best version of myself.
4 年Jo Donnison Rebecca Egan
Extraordinarily Ordinary :-)
4 年You nailed it again Maha ??????
Head of Marketing for B2B Orgs @ConnectU Marketing | Passionate about Systems Change & Effective Altruism
4 年Not sure about Australia but in the USA - for profit prison systems result in perverse incentives. The people running a prison, investing in it and profiting have no financial reasons (in the short term) to want less prisoners and prevention, rehab and a better society that fixes the issues? If anything - a growth based model applied to this industry would mean a constant need for more prisoners.. Perhaps why they USA is the most incarcerated nation on earth. Similarly with? healthcare needing a stream of perpetually sick people? Where's the money in prevention and a healthy population? Always interesting to follow the money/incentives.? How do we change this in Springfield or Australia and create the future we need and that most of us want??
My Purpose: to help people living with chronic, progressive neurological conditions to get the best out of life; advocate for change, and find a cure!
4 年So true, Education empowers us all....gives us the tools and equips us to make better choices.