Going to prison, hungry as all hell and my challenge...

One of things that my agency does...is we take youth on a tour of the local, maximum security prison. Is kind of like the "Scared Straight" programs except that they don't try to scare the kids anymore...just give them a window picture of what it looks like in prison. Another thing I like about the tour...is that all the inmates in the panel were sent to prison for crimes they committed when they were 16 years old. It's harder for the kids to say that this will never happen to them...when the people telling their stories went to prison at the same age as them.

It's always an interesting experience...seeing life inside the prison and the kids reactions. They are always varied...some kids laugh it off, some kids don't react at all (they are like stone walls) and some kids are truly terrified.

In the end...I don't think it is a huge deterrent...these kids are young enough that they still think this type of thing will never happen to them. They unfortunately don't see the path from small petty crimes...to bigger and bigger ones...when prison is the only viable option. So...I think the kids think about the day of the tour and maybe for a little bit longer, but I doubt the tour has a lot of impact months down the road. I doubt the think of the tour when one of their friends wants them to do something stupid and illegal, etc...

We were at the prison from 4pm to 9pm...and then I didn't get done dropping the kids off until close to 10pm. I was SO hungry when I left work that I could have eaten one of the kids for nourishment. I ended up getting a small order of mozz sticks and eating that....before dinner. It wasn't the best choice, but I was so so damn hungry. I am used to eating dinner at about 5:30pm or so...so about halfway through the tour I got very hungry...and got hungry enough that I got the "starving" headache.

Oooh...and I successfully completed my No Soda Challenge. I did have a soda this morning on the way to work...since I could and all. I was exhausted and used it as my caffeine pick up for the morning. My next challenge starts November 1st and I am going to re-do the No Candy Challenge. Wish me lots of luck!